The Return of the Waldorf
by supergirlscafe
Summary: “Well, since this is clearly Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,”she says, looking straight at Jenny, “Let us ask the audience.” Post 1x13, Blair Waldorf is doing her best to regain her former status. A Waldass sequel to Blair Waldorf Strikes Back.
1. Day 1: Friday

Return of the Waldorf

Summary: You _really_ can't keep a bad girl down. Blair.Chuck

Timeline: Set two days after the end of 1x13.

A/N: It would help to read "Blair Waldorf Strikes Back" before this but (hopefully) this story can stand alone. Also, thanks maz4pj for the beta!

Day 1: Friday

Blair wakes up to her blaring alarm on Friday morning in a great mood. After all, Friday is every teenager's favorite day of the week: it's right before Saturday. On Fridays, Blair always has coffee with Serena, Kati, and Iz after school and then has dinner with Nate before meeting up at a party at somebody's apartment. But when Blair remembers that this Friday won't be like that anyway, Blair is very unhappy.

She flounces sullenly to her closet to get dressed. She hurries to throw her clothes on and do her hair in order to make it to breakfast before Dorota has to come get her. Dorota looks up with surprise from the frying pan when Blair rushes into the kitchen. Dorota scrambles the egg whites and looks at Blair curiously.

"What, you managed to get ready on time today?" Dorota rolls her eyes. "Have a meeting to conquer the world?"

"Something like that," Blair says imperiously.

Dorota laughs. "Good girl," she smiles as she slides the eggs onto a glass plate and grinds some pepper on them before handing it all to Blair. Blair shovels it down before practically running out the door. She wants to be at school early so that she can slip into her first period class without having to pass gathering cliques.

Blair makes it through the first part of the day by keeping her head down. It is a big change for a girl who has spent most of her life trying to differentiate herself from her best friend and stand out. Now, all Blair wants to do is make it to 3pm without any major humiliations. She wants to blend into the woodwork and stay as invisible as possible. The problem, Blair realizes as she walks to her final class before lunch, AP U.S. History, is simply that Blair has not created herself to be forgotten. All of Blair's clothes, habits, and even style of walking scream "Look at me!"

Unfortunately, that isn't the reason people are looking at Blair anymore. People's eyes used to only flicker to Blair briefly, as if scared that if they looked at her too long they might anger her. Now, the students' eyes slide over her, lingering on her figure, judging her and her actions. Blair feels dirty and used just walking down the hall.

Blair slips into the back of the APUSH classroom just before the bell rings. As her teacher natters on about the Eerie Canal or something equally boring, Blair's mind wanders to the previous day.

Blair mentally reviews the events so far in her ongoing attempt to return to power as Queen Bee. Day Zero basically involved Blair spreading a rumor on Gossip Girl that Jenny had an STD, Blair stirring up social unrest due to her chairmanship of the Valentine's Day Ball, Hazel & Co. ruining Blair's skirt, Blair having a confrontation with said Co. in front of the school, Blair babysitting, Blair kissing Chuck, and… that is where Blair's mental processes stopped.

Blair's inner romantic is still sighing about the mind-blowing kiss she shared with Chuck the previous night. Devil though Chuck might be, he kisses like nobody Blair has kissed before, with a passion that precious Nate never matched.

Blair shakes her head in frustration. She needs to stop thinking about Chuck. Sure, their sort-of relationship was fun, but they weren't good together. Chuck Bass is too coarse, too rude to ever satisfy the refined and elegant Blair Waldorf.

Unfortunately, it isn't as if Blair can ignore Chuck. Even though she considers them eminently unsuited for each other, they do run in the same social circle. And as it appears from last night, their parents even run in the same business circle. Blair has a nagging feeling that Bart Bass and Eleanor Waldorf still have some more wooing to do of the prominent Rodriguez juggernaut, and she hopes that she won't have to be a part of it.

Blair is surprised by the bell ringing. Class is now over and the student body streams into the courtyard, carrying Blair along with them. Blair scans the lunch area quickly, checking for a place to sit. She spots a table usually inhabited by the math club, or some other geeky girl society, and makes a beeline for it as it is still empty.

Blair fans her textbooks out in front of her and takes out notebook paper as if she is planning on doing homework. She pretends to not notice all the geeky girls' faces falling as they approach the table and then leave. Blair may no longer be the queen of the school, but there are few outside of the ruling clique who feel any sort of superiority over her. Try as they might, it is very difficult to stop being scared of Blair Waldorf.

Blair doodles illegible scratches on the paper in front of her as she sneaks looks at the ruling clique a few tables over. Blair is gathering intelligence for her plots. She surreptitiously observes the group of girls at Constance Billiards who bitter students used to call the Queens of Mean, the group Blair used to rule.

Blair only has to glance over there once or twice before she is already annoyed. Hazel sits at the center of the group, trying to command attention by flicking her long, wavy, chocolate hair and sticking her boobs out. Unfortunately for Hazel, she isn't succeeding. The girls are not impressed by Hazel's cleavage nor by her fashion sense. Blair can see Kati and Iz and Nicole, another formerly loyal lackey of Blair's, giggling behind Hazel's back about the hideous shoes she is wearing.

But why is Blair annoyed, besides the obvious? Well, because Hazel has clearly turned the Queens of Mean into a joke. When Blair ran them, the queens were like a well-oiled machine, dressing impeccably 

and ruling socially. Now, when it is clear that few of Hazel's clique actually respect her, Blair can see that the carefully structured social hierarchy at the school might collapse.

Ugh. Blair hates incompetence.

Blair continues to observe the Queens of Mean eating lunch, now scribbling down notes titled "Army of Skanks." She divides the page into two columns and on the left writes the names of the girls with true allegiance to Hazel and marks on the other the names of the girls who are only paying lip service to Hazel. When Blair realizes how few of the girls are actually truly bound to Hazel, her spirits lift a little bit.

Of course, those spirits are smashed back down when Nate goes over to talk to Hazel and Jenny. As Blair's ex-boyfriend flirts with her replacements, Blair's bitter heart begins to boil. Blair bites her lip nervously. Clearly, the picture of Jenny going to the STD clinic wasn't enough to deter possible suitors. Blair contemplates how she is going to destroy the reputations of Hazel and Jenny before Nate latches on to one of them.

Blair is still trying to figure it out after school as she stands in the school's main hall watching nervous girls sign up for the meeting at the Tea Room at Café Angelique the next day. As the chairwoman of the Social Committee, Blair will be hosting the meeting to discuss plans for the Valentine's Day Ball. Controlling society event guest-lists is more valuable than gold on the Upper East Side and like it or not, the Queens of Mean intend to have a part in the planning.

Blair can't stop herself from smirking as she overhears the conversation of the freshmen girls signing up:

"Are you going?"

"I'm not sure. Blair Waldorf is going to be there, and you know what she is now…but she's still Blair Waldorf, you know?"

"Exactly. Blair Waldorf is not to be missed. What are you wearing?"

"I was thinking my black ballet flats I got from Barney's last weekend with that gray pencil skirt and white button-up, but do you think it's too job interview?"

"Try a floral skirt instead, I saw Blair wearing one just last week."

"D'you think Hazel will be mad if people go?"

"I dunno, I heard she was trying to regulate the guest list or something but look, she's over there, I bet she's going to sign up too…"

Blair watches as the freshman girls scatter and make way for their reigning Queen.

The idea comes to Blair just as Hazel approaches the bulletin board wearing her slutty uniform. Hazel's button-down shirt is unbuttoned down to a place where the school dress code might deem is inappropriate and her skirt rides up to show almost all of her thigh. The St. Jude's boys stand a little 

farther off, pointing and leering at Hazel. Hazel winks at one of them before signing her name on the meeting list and flouncing off, skirt flying up. This jogs Blair's memory. Wasn't Hazel one of the class sluts? Blair remembers only ever including her as a wannabe because the St. Jude's boys starting requesting her attendance at all the exclusive parties. Blair also remembers some particularly nasty rumors about drugs and Hazel.

Blair grins widely for the first time that day. Now she has a plan.

Blair's grin is interrupted when she is practically slammed against a locker by a passing gaggle of obnoxious St. Jude's boys. She glares at Chuck Bass as he passes and sneers, pushing her aside.

"Watch it, skank," one of the boys smirks at Blair, before they all saunter off. Blair rolls her eyes and walks up to grab the list of names from the bulletin board.

On the taxi ride home from school, Blair studies the list of girls signed up for the Social Committee meeting the next day. Only a few on the left side of the "Army of Skanks" list are showing up, including Hazel and Jenny and another girl whose name Blair barely recognizes, Katherine Winslow. Instead, the list is populated by girls who Blair remembers vividly as loyal little bitches like Kati and Iz. Blair smiles. The next day will be good.

A/N: This will be the first in a series of…checks outline ten-eleven installments describing the ten-eleven days that mark Blair's return to power at Constance Billiards. Basically, how I think Blair would handle everything after the end of 1x13 "The Thin Line Between Chuck and Nate." All the chapters are already outlined and I plan to update once every other day before April 21st. I know the installments are a bit short, but hey, this is a Blair/Chuck story as well (hurrah! I love them) and also they are coming quickly (Unlike TTO…cough cough sad sad), so no complaining, ya hear? grins

Feedback is always appreciated! 


	2. Day 2: Saturday

Day 2: Saturday

Blair ponders herself in her full-length mirror. She critically assesses her towel-clad body before casting a skeptical eye to her right, looking into her full closet of designer clothes. Sighing, she puts on a lavender cashmere sweater and a pair of True Religion jeans. She walks around her room, picking up key items like M.A.C. lip conditioner and her trusty Sidekick and putting it all in her purse. Tossing last season's Marc Jacobs bag over her shoulder, she heads out of her apartment.

It is time for a new outfit.

Blair quickly flags a cab to her favorite store in the whole world, Barneys New York. She enters the store with that excitement that always precedes a fabulous new purchase. She skims the racks for the perfect sweater-and-skirt combo to present to the girls at Café Angelique's that afternoon. Finally, she settles upon a new Juicy Couture cardigan with an Alexander Wang shirttail skirt, twirling in the outfit in front of the 360 degree mirror.

Just as Blair is about to change out of her clothes, her Sidekick buzzes. Blair picks it up. The screen says "2 New Messages" and Blair clicks to read them. The first message is from her mother:

_We need to put in an appearance at the annual Metropolitan Museum Fundraising Gala. Be dressed (evening formal) and ready at the apartment at 8pm._

Blair checks her Palm Pilot. Nope, her mother hadn't told her about this particular event. Damn, this meant Blair was going to have to pick up a new dress too before she left Barneys. The Met was a showcase for the new fashion, prompting Upper East Side housewives to make their expensive seasonal trek to the designer racks.

The second message is from Serena:

_R u still going to Café Angelique's?_

Blair rolls her eyes. Typical Serena. Serena always thinks that Blair is more delicate than she really is. Or rather, Serena thinks that Blair should be more careful. Serena never listens when Blair tries to explain that she has nothing left to lose.

Blair doesn't answer Serena's text, she should know the answer. It is a stupid message for a smart girl like Serena to send, anyways.

Blair purchases a fancy Helmut Lang cocktail dress before leaving Barneys. Sure, it isn't quite formal enough, but pretty young girls get away with a lot in New York society. After all, Blair was still invited to that event at the Met, wasn't she?

When Blair arrives at 3:30pm at Café Angelique that afternoon, she is already impeccably dressed in the outfit she picked out for herself at Barney's. She greets the attendants at Café Angelique cordially and inspects the setup of the Tea Room. The attendants wait on her every word, anxious for her approval.

"Are these tablecloths real lace?" Blair inquires, walking around the room with a critical eye. "How long will these candles burn for? Are they scented?" She pauses at the tea serving platter. "Where is the sugar bowl?"

These questions are not threatening. Blair says them all in a nice, calm, clear voice, as if she were simply commenting on the weather. But no matter her current social shenanigans, Blair Waldorf is still a name that carries weight in Upper East Side society. Even though the attendants likely have no idea who she is, Blair Waldorf has just enough natural command in her tone that she will never be ignored.

So as Blair strolls around the Tea Room for the next thirty minutes, the attendants scurry behind her, fussing over every last detail. By the time the first guest arrives at promptly 4pm, the attendants sit exhausted behind the Café Angelique's reception desk.

Girls file in from Constance Billiards. Blair watches out of the corner of her eye as she appears to be sipping a cup of tea and occasionally making notes on the notepad inside a black-leather binder. All the girls greet Blair politely and take seats around the main table.

Once everybody has arrived, Blair has to do no more than stand before the girls fall silent.

"Good afternoon, everybody," Blair begins. Nobody dares to say "Good afternoon" back for fear of risking the wrath of Hazel. "Welcome to this month's Social Committee meeting. Today, we will be planning the Valentine's Day Ball."

Blair pauses and looks around. She sees Hazel with her mouth twisted in annoyance at Blair already and Little J looking excited to be part of something. She spots Serena sneaking in late and has to contain her own annoyance. "The theme this year will be of course, Valentine's Day. We will have traditional décor, none of that tacky balloon-hearts and streamers. Elegant flowers, sparkling chandeliers, lace tablecloths."

Hazel, without any preamble, interrupts. "Wouldn't it be more fun to have an exciting theme, like a costume party?"

Blair gives not even a glance at Hazel before tossing out a "No." The girls titter for a moment before a glare from Hazel shuts them up. "Now, as I was saying, today we will be organizing the plans for this. We have sixteen girls here today, so I will divide you into committees of four to cover entertainment, decoration, food, and location."

Most of the girls nod, having been on the Social Committee for years with Blair. They have done this before; they know the drill. So they offer no objections as Blair begins to list off who is on each committee and who will be the committee head.

"Blair?" Hazel says imperiously. "I'll head the entertainment committee."

The girls anxiously wait for a response from Blair, who opens her mouth to respond, but is interrupted by Priscilla Vanderbilt, a senior.

"You don't have any event-planning experience," Priscilla, who comes from one of the families with the oldest money on the Upper East Side, says not unkindly. "It wouldn't be sensible to put you as a committee head."

Hazel turns her head, appropriately abashed, and Blair continues on as if nothing had happened. Of course, coming as no surprise to anyone, Blair does not assign Hazel or Jenny a position as committee head.

Hazel grumbles as the positions are listed off, but Blair simply ignores her. Blair then supervises as the girls divide up into their committees and begin brainstorming.

Because of Hazel's momentary defeat, the girls feel comfortable talking to Blair. Although they certainly do not revert to their previous admiration, they decide that it is safe to talk professionally with Blair about an area of her expertise. After all, they learned long ago never to underestimate Blair Waldorf, and most of them have bets in a pool hosted by a certain St. Jude's boy on when Blair will knock Hazel off her throne. It wouldn't be good to offend the girl who would most likely rule them again soon, would it?

Elise Wells, a newcomer whom Blair placed on the food committee, raises her hand. "Blair? How do you want the food to be served?"

Jenny immediately turns to look at Elise from across the room in her spot on the decorations committee and glares fiercely at her.

Blair glides over to Elise and begins explaining the hors d'oeuvres she had in mind. Even Hazel has to admire Blair in her element like this.

Immediately after the meeting, Blair and Serena take a taxi back to Blair's apartment to prettify themselves for the ball. Serena borrows one of Blair's old designer castoffs from three years ago but still manages to look stunning, whereas Blair is very unsatisfied with her very trendy and sexy Helmut Lang dress.

Blair pouts into the mirror and applies M.A.C. lipstick before tossing the tube to Serena, who does the same.

"Ready?" Blair asks.

Serena winks. "For anything."

Unfortunately, a night at the Met isn't quite as exciting for teenagers as it is for the seventy-five year old rich fuddy-duddys for whom this is the highlight of the year's social calendar. Although it is a good time 

for Blair to network, she knows that anybody who she meets for the first time at the Met isn't really anybody.

So Blair decides to keep a low profile that night, chatting mostly to the woman seated next to her, who owns a popular jazz club downtown. Finally, after more discussions of pianos than Blair thinks she can handle, Blair excuses herself to the powder room.

Blair rises and strolls across the Met, heading for the bathrooms. On her way, she is stopped by her mother, who calls her over to where she is sitting.

"Blair! Blair, darling!" Eleanor calls. Blair turns and has no choice but to move towards her mother and the people she is sitting with.

"Hello, mother," Blair says in a saccharinely sweet voice. "How are you doing?"

"Lovely, dear," Eleanor smiles. Blair sees that she's sitting with Bart and Chuck Bass. Fabulous. Chuck leers at her low-cut dress and suddenly Blair wishes she'd picked today to be a bit more modest with her fashion choices.

"Now, I was just talking to Bart and Chuck about the mix-up the other night about the Rodriguez papers and we were all having a good laugh. Here," Eleanor pats the empty seat between her and the smirking bag of hormones that is Chuck Bass. "Sit down."

Blair reluctantly takes the seat. She pretends to not notice Chuck's foot sliding up her leg as her mother and Bart chat about the Rodriguez deal.

"Yes, the case is difficult, don't you think?" Eleanor sighs. "The Rodriguezes are wonderful investors but in person they are just so hard to connect with."

"I think it's their son," Bart adds. "I need to meet with them to iron out more details, but they always want their devil child to come along! At least Chuck is well-mannered."

Blair is having a hard time following along with the conversation as Chuck's foot becomes increasingly adventurous. She jumps up. "Excuse me for just a moment, Mom," Blair blurts jumpily, practically running to the bathroom.

Eleanor and Bart look curiously at Blair's retreating figure.

"I'll go make sure she's okay," Chuck tells them courteously before following Blair.

Chuck doesn't make it to Blair before she gets into the ladies room, so he waits outside. The first thing Blair sees when she returns to the hallway three minutes later is Chuck leaning sexily against the wall, eyebrows raised.

One moment she's glaring at him, the next he's kissing her again and Blair can't breathe. She doesn't know if that's good or bad. But since it's Chuck Bass, she decides it's bad, even though his kisses feel so good she never wants to breathe again. So Blair pushes his wandering hands off of her.

"What the hell, Blair?!" Chuck says, annoyed.

Blair brushes herself off. "This isn't right. You know that."

Blair makes to walk away but Chuck grabs her arm. "You like this just as much as I do, Blair, and don't even try to pretend otherwise."

Blair glowers at him and the damn smirking, know-it-all expression on his face but says nothing, only wrenching her hand away and stalking back to the table. She is just in time to hear the tail end of her mother's conversation with Bart Bass:

"This Wednesday it is. I'll have my secretary make reservations at Balducci's at 7."

"I think it's a great idea to have Chuck and Blair come with us. That way, they can entertain little Tommy while we hammer out the details of the venture with the Rodriguezes."

"Wonderful. See you then," Bart Bass says to Eleanor Waldorf before they shake hands and leave.

Blair barely waits until the Basses are out of earshot before addressing her mother. "Please do not tell me I heard what I think I heard." Her mother looks slightly guilty as Blair continues, "Please do not tell me I am spending Wednesday night babysitting with Chuck Bass."

Eleanor Waldorf smiles nervously. "Well, honey, you see Bart and I just thought…" Eleanor stops at Blair's horrified expression. "It's only for one night, darling, it'll be alright."

Blair's final words to her mother that night are "No. It won't be."

A/N: What do you think?? I kind of like it, actually, just because there is more action/dialogue. Although jeez, I really can't make it through a story without having Blair shop at least once. I just think it's such a Blair thing to do! I guess cause I read the books, wherein Blair shops basically all the time. I also mildly apologize for the lateness of this chapter, but I still maintain that I am on track to get the entire story up before April 21st, beta permitting. Speaking of my fabulous beta, thanks maz4pj! :)


	3. Day 3: Sunday

Day 3: Sunday

Sun streams in through Blair's window and falls in a halo that contrasts starkly with her dark brown hair. As the sun rises in the sky it flows further into the room and hits her eyes, waking Blair up. She cringes and holds her covers over her head. Blair has almost fallen back to sleep when Dorota walks into her room carrying a breakfast tray.

"Good morning, Miss Blair," Dorota announces cheerily. "It is time to wake up. A lady never sleeps past noon."

The only audible noise is a distinctively unladylike grunt from under the blankets.

"Miss Blair, I have brought you a delicious brunch."

Blair considers from the dark, cool retreat of her sheets. Even through the thick comforter she can smell Dorota's special French toast made using her homemade cinnamon bread. Blair's growling stomach wins out and Blair decides that she can always throw it up later if she eats too much, even though she knows Dorota will be watching her like a hawk.

Blair tosses off her covers and stretches. She grabs a fork and a knife and practically attacks the wonderful-smelling food on the plate in front of her, pausing only to gulp down some fruit juice. Dorota's pleased smile stretches from ear to ear.

Just to keep Dorota happy, Blair eats every bite of food on the tray, including the toast with real butter. Since it tastes so amazing Blair thinks that perhaps, just for today, she should let it stay in her stomach.

Once Dorota has left to wash the dishes, Blair opens up her Sidekick and opens up her homepage: the Gossip Girl blog. Blair sees the obligatory update about her shutting Hazel down the day before at Café Angelique and her appearance at the Met, but is thankful to see no mention of her steamy make-out session with Chuck in the Met bathroom.

Blair scrolls down just to be sure. She is surprised to see Nate back on Gossip Girl's homepage. She is even more surprised to see him pictured with Jenny. She remembers seeing them talking at lunch on Friday, but she didn't actually think it meant anything.

She reads the Gossip Girl blurb:

_N spotted getting ice cream after school with the girl who seems to be his newest fling since B, Little J. We knew N had been hitting the clubs-_

Blair gasps involuntarily. She didn't know that.

_since his ex, B, was caught with his bf C, but we didn't know he was planning on getting serious with any one skank._

_Oh? Did we call Little J a skank? Well, she is friends with H after all. God knows what she's got up her sleeve. We hear Little J has snagged herself a date with Nate to ?? ??'s party on Tuesday. We'll keep you posted on what happens!_

_XOXO_

_Gossip Girl_

Blair finds herself getting angry at the thought of Nate taking an interest in Jenny. She isn't surprised, necessarily-after all, he was obsessed with the similarly-tressed Serena for the last ten years- but she is still hurt. She holds her breath and counts to ten before exhaling.

Nope, still angry.

She repeats the inhale, pause, exhale process at least six times before she can think coherently.

Once she can put together thoughts, Blair realizes that this is actually a good opportunity to sabotage Jenny. After all, if Jenny flunks with Nate, then she'll lose her confidence. And this is a perfect time to keep up with Blair's Mean-Girls-inspired three-pronged plan of attack. Prong 3: Remove any chance of a hot boyfriend.

And, Blair reflects, not everything that has come out this Gossip Girl post will be bad. After all, it seems Gossip Girl dislikes Hazel and Jenny just as much as Blair does. And as everyone on Manhattan's Upper East Side knows, Gossip Girl's is the opinion that counts.

Blair's phone buzzes. Caller ID informs Blair that it is Chuck Bass calling. Blair ignores the phone and lets it buzz away. Instead, Blair chooses to focus on sabotaging Jenny. First, she needs to figure out where she is.

Blair knows that if she were Jenny, she would be at Barney's right now trying to find the perfect outfit for Nate. And since Blair also knows that Jenny is doing her best to become Blair, Blair is pretty sure that she'll be able to locate her protégé pretty fast.

After all, who knows Blair Waldorf better than Blair Waldorf herself?

For the second day in a row, Blair heads out shopping. Even though she prefers to keep her Barney's visits down to just one a weekend, so she doesn't look desperate, she figures that it is more important to track down her victim.

Blair does not enter the store with her customary dramatic flair but rather keeps her head down, demure in black corduroy pants with a gray silk top and hair pulled loosely back into a bun. The perfect casual-but-intimidating outfit.

Blair scans the area out of the corner of her eye while pretending to rifle through the dresses in front of her. She strolls towards the dressing rooms while still keeping her head down.

Finally, Blair sees her. Jenny is modeling a very low-cut orange taffeta dress with ruffles all over it. It is one of the few hideous knockoff pieces Barney sells at a low price to appeal to the tasteless tourist crowd. Blair has no idea why Jenny is even considering this monstrosity to appeal to Nate.

Then Blair notices that Hazel, Katherine Winslow, and Nicky, another one of Hazel's lackeys, are all there as well. They appear to be complimenting Jenny on the dress and assuring her of how good it looks.

Blair snorts. As much as she hates Jenny, it would be too mean even for her to allow her to wear that dress. Blair saunters confidently up to the dressing room.

She cocks her head at the girls in front of her. "Hey there, Kathy," she looks directly at the girl she met the previous day at the Tea Room, ignoring the others. "How are you?"

Katherine immediately colors and her head drops. "Hi Blair," she mumbles.

Blair smiles triumphantly on the inside. At least the novice lackeys are still respectful of Blair. Good.

Hazel cuts in. "What are you doing here, Blair?"

Blair shrugs innocently. "Shopping."

Hazel eyes Blair suspiciously, but doesn't want to push the issue since both girls know Blair has far more disposable income than Hazel.

"Why, it's not like you'd have anywhere to wear a new outfit," Hazel tries a different tack.

Katherine, Nicky, and Jenny all snicker.

Blair raises her eyebrows. "Like I'd wear that-" she says distastefully, looking pointedly at Jenny's dress, "ever."

Jenny glances down self-consciously. Nicki puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder and Katherine looks their way sympathetically.

"Seriously, Jenny," Blair begins. "If you're going to go for a bright color, at least make it spring, like lime green. That orange is very autumn-" She notices Jenny's confusion. "You know, like Halloween. Day-glo jack-o-lanterns ring any bells?"

Hazel interrupts at this point. "You're just trying to sabotage Jenny so she won't do well with Nate," she realizes. "Don't listen to her, Jenny."

Blair purses her lips. "Whatever. It's not as if you are going to be able to find anything cute on such a small budget." Jenny flinches at the reference to her family's middle-class status compared to the girls at Constance Billiards.

"You're just jealous," Jenny says nervously. Hazel nods, encouraging her to stand strong. "You wanted Nate to stay with you and you're upset he's moving on."

"I just worry about you, Jenny." Blair's voice is laden with false sweetness. "It's tough being Nate's girlfriend. He…expects a lot," she says, knowing that it will make little freshman Jenny even more nervous about him.

"What do you mean?" Jenny almost stutters.

Blair shrugs again. "Well, it's difficult to keep a big man like Nate satisfied," she warns. "I'd ask your friend Hazel for advice on that."

Socially ambitious though Jenny might be, Blair knows from the Chuck incident at the beginning of the year that Jenny knows nothing of the intrigues of sex on the Upper East Side. However, Hazel realizes Blair's thinly veiled insult to her reputation and has only begun to prepare a comeback when Blair's phone buzzes.

Blair checks the Caller ID. Chuck again, but she doesn't have to tell Hazel that. "Love to stay and chat, but I've got the real world to get back to. With no taffeta, thank god," she says, with a final glance at Jenny's ugly dress.

Blair holds the phone up to her ear as she walks away, as if she had answered it. But once again, Blair lets the call from Chuck go to voicemail. By the time Blair's taxi arrives back at Blair's apartment, Blair's phone informs her that she has three missed calls. Blair checks her voicemail and is infuriated to learn that Chuck didn't even bother to leave a message. Blair decides that if Chuck couldn't even make the effort to leave her a voicemail, then he doesn't deserve a call back.

A couple blocks away, Chuck Bass sits in his suite at the Plaza. He angrily throws his phone across the room and winces when it smashes the glass of the painting above the mantle.

He knows that Blair knows he called; the vain OCD bitch checks her phone every thirty seconds for crying out loud. Chuck knows that she sees the missed calls and that a voicemail isn't necessary for her to know why he's calling. Chuck wonders why Blair won't stop jerking him around.

AN: So what do y'all think? This is just sort of a prep chapter for the chapters to come. In future chapters there will be more confrontations and more Chuck/Blair. Yay! Thanks to my awesome beta, maz4pj.

Feedback is love!


	4. Day 4: Monday

The Return of the Waldorf

Chapter 4

Day 4: Monday

Blair Waldorf is the picture of attentiveness during her U.S. History class that day, her pen furiously scratching down detailed notes and her head perfectly cocked to hear every word her teacher says. Blair has decided that her current social slump is no reason to slack off on her work as well. After all, she'll never make it into Yale with bad grades. And besides, Blair doesn't plan to be in a social slump much longer.

Blair half-smiles as she begins to review her Mean Girls-inspired strategy in her head. First, make them feel insecure about their looks. Second, attack the Hot Boyfriend angle by keeping both of them dateless. Finally, pick apart Jenny and Hazel's Army of Skanks, aka their loyal clique of followers.

Blair mentally evaluates her progress on each prong of her plan. Blair first considers the outcome of the meeting at Café Angelique that Saturday. Hazel definitely lost some authority there. Jenny is certainly feeling the heat about her body after the previous day at Barney's, Blair decides, but she is certainly doing well on attaining a boyfriend. Nate moved in on Jenny earlier than she had expected. Hazel also had been finding no shortage of consorts, as she is rumored to be the easiest lay at Constance Billiards. Still, Blair reflects, two out of three isn't bad.

But Blair knows that minor accomplishments in just two categories won't be enough for her to regain power at Constance Billiards. Blair knows that in order for her to achieve success in her plots, Jenny and Hazel will have to fall. Hard.

Blair is interrupted by the bell ringing. Looking down, Blair realizes that her meticulous notes trailed off a few battles in the Civil War back. Still, not bad for a Monday.

Blair gathers her notes and binder and stuffs them into her book bag before slinging the bag over her shoulder. She walks to the door and is surprised to see Serena waiting for her.

"So what were you thinking about during class?" Serena hints.

Blair sighs. Serena has always been able to read her. "Just, you know, remembering last Saturday at Café Angelique. How'd you know?"

Serena shrugs and laughs. "You get a certain look on your face when you're plotting social destruction," she grins. "Even when you were five and plotting with Chuck to get finger paint all over Clarisse Donatello's dress."

Blair stiffens at the mention of Chuck's name and even though Serena notices it, both of them choose to ignore it as they walk down the hall toward the courtyard. "Clarisse deserved it. She tripped me on the playground," Blair recalls with a smile.

"She was so scared that she transferred schools, B!" Serena reminds her gently.

Blair snickers. "What a five-year-old wimp she must have been."

Both girls giggle at the memory. They pause at the door to the outside.

"Do you…" Serena's voice trails off. "Do you want to eat with me and Dan today?"

Blair looks at her for a moment.

"Look, I know it's weird to not be with…everyone…anymore," Serena says understandingly, "but I don't want you to sit alone. Besides, Dan's really nice. I promise."

Blair remembers Dan's genuine love for Serena. "Sure, I guess."

Serena's delighted smile spreads from ear to ear as she grabs Blair's hand like they are twelve again and pulls her towards the picnic table where Dan is waiting. "Come on!"

Blair rolls her eyes good-naturedly but allows Serena to drag her along. The girls plop down on the bench across from Dan.

"Hey, guys," Dan raises his eyebrows, surprised.

"It's good you're so happy to see me, Dan," Blair snarks.

Dan laughs. "I'm surprised you'd choose to sit with me, to be honest."

Blair smiles ruefully. "Hey, being Gossip Girl's scandal superstar of the week gets a little lonely sometimes," she admits.

"Hey, imagine how I felt being the scholarship kid at St. Jude's for so long," Dan informs Blair. "Not exactly a ticket to high society."

"All right, can we talk about something else?" Blair and Dan look at Serena strangely. "Like, you know, not about our past interpersonal issues?"

The corner of Blair's mouth quirks upward. "So Serena, how has your day been?"

Chuck sees Blair laughing and chatting with Serena and her geeky boyfriend Dan Humphrey across the courtyard. He is not happy. Blair was supposed to be socially isolated and come to him for support!

Jeremy Anderson, one of Chuck's friends at St. Judes, follows the line of Chuck's angry gaze. "Dude, still hung up on Waldorf?"

"That skank?" Chuck laughs, weakly. "I was over before it started, man."

Jeremy shakes his head as Blair passes them to put her lunch leftovers in the trash. "I never really got what it was about that girl," he informs Chuck, assessing Blair's figure. "I mean, sure, she's hot and all, but the cold-as-ice thing never really gets me off."

Chuck only raises his eyebrows. "You'd be surprised, man," he remarks before turning back to his lunch. Suddenly Chuck hears Blair yell.

Blair had done her best to look away from the people she passed returning to her seat. Because of this, she had not noticed when Jeremy stuck his foot out a little too far. The foot tripped her and sent Blair sprawling to the ground, the cobblestones of the courtyard ripping the knees of her tights. Chuck turns around just in time to see a furious Blair.

"What the hell?" Blair spits from her position on her knees, struggling to fix her skirt.

Chuck smirks as the St. Jude's boys behind him jeer at Blair. "Nice view from up here, Blair. You don't look so comfortable," he cocks his head dramatically, looking at her, "Which is weird, because I thought being on your knees was just your natural position."

The jeers and catcalls get louder. Serena rushes over to offer Blair a hand back up, with Dan hurrying close behind.

"That's a really cute outfit, Blair," Hazel and the rest of her clique have noticed by this point. "It looks kind of JBF to me." Now even the girls of Constance Billiard have exploded into laughter as Chuck grins in triumph.

"JBF?" Dan mouths to Serena.

Serena whispers back, "Just Been Fucked."

And indeed, with her shirt crooked and skirt riding up and tights ripped from her fall, Blair did look a bit like a she had just come from the closet with her lover.

Serena turns to Chuck. "You are the reason she looks like that, you idiot!"

The laughter only increases as Serena realizes she just made it sound like Chuck was screwing Blair.

"You looked like that once, too, Serena, remember?" Chuck looks at Serena with a hint of a smirk. "Did our night together at the Plaza mean so little to you?"

Dan looks accusingly at a defensive Serena. Serena fumes at the way Chuck is twisting what happened.

"Hey, Jenny, how does it feel to know your brother's girlfriend is a skank?" Chuck asks wickedly.

Jenny mumbles and puts her head down, not really wanting to get on her brother's bad side.

Blair sees her best friend Serena, now humiliated because she came to Blair's defense, and is furious. Blair doesn't want Jenny to get away with being an accomplice in this. She wants Jenny to show her true colors.

Blair turns to her. "What'd you say, Jenny?"

Jenny, fresh off the insult she received from Blair the previous day at Barney's, is ready to stand up to Blair.

"I said that Serena is a skank, just like everybody else that associates with you is," Jenny announces assertively. She then blanches when she realizes that protecting herself in that particular statement alienated some very important people. Even the girls behind her, covering her back, are shaken by that statement. Blair notices that Kati and Iz look particularly displeased.

Now Dan is looking accusingly at his sister. Sure, he and Serena might have some things to talk about, but insulting Serena is low, even for Jenny. Serena had been nothing but kind to Jenny.

Blair stares at Jenny with a smirk on her face. Ever observant, Serena notices its faint resemblance to Chuck's expression, but knows it would be a very bad time to mention that.

"Oh, Little J, don't you remember your time with Chuck as well?" Blair says sweetly. "You know, after that Kiss on the Lips party, after a few glasses of champagne?"

The crowd titters. Everybody heard about Jenny and Chuck that night.

Jenny blushes but otherwise keeps her composure as Hazel comes to her defense. "I'm sure you can talk for days about things you've done after a few glasses of champagne, Blair," Hazel says just as sweetly.

Everybody is surprised when Blair actually laughs at this. "No, actually," Blair responds as politely as she can muster. "We all know you're the drunken slut."

Every boy at St. Jude's snickers at that. They all knew it was true.

Chuck is angry at this. The boys were not supposed to be laughing with Blair about the slutty Hazel Woods (who was admittedly pretty slutty). They were supposed to be laughing with Chuck about the slutty Blair Waldorf!

Chuck clears his throat, and all eyes return to him. "Now that we've established that every girl at Constance is slutty," he announces, playing to his St. Jude's audience who predictably laughs uproariously, "can we return to-"

Chuck is cut off by the bell ringing loudly, drowning out his words. He groans and the crowd disperses. The last person he sees before he goes to his own class is Blair Waldorf. She is standing across the courtyard and is glaring at him, only him. She looks ready to kill him.

Chuck can't wait. Maybe she'll finally track him down and talk to him already.

The rest of Blair's day is surprisingly peaceful. The rest of the girls at Constance Billiards are too scared of her to approach her, so she is mostly ignored. Even though this would have annoyed Blair in the past today she really appreciates the reprieve from verbal combat.

The only bump in the smooth sailing of the day happens after school, when Serena and Blair wander out of the main hall fifteen minutes after school ends. Instead of the mostly empty courtyard that they are expecting, they find a small crowd gathered around an arguing couple.

Serena and Blair move closer to see who it is. As they crane their necks, they realize it is Dan and Jenny yelling at each other.

Serena is shocked and goes to support her boyfriend, but Blair holds her arm.

"Wait," she warns Serena. "I think this is something they need to do."

They move closer so they can hear better, but they don't really need to. Dan and Jenny are shouting loud enough for the entire Upper East Side to hear.

"Serena's been nothing but nice to you!"

"She's friends with Blair, Dan! A girl who did nothing but torment me, if you'll recall!"

"You asked for it, Jenny! It's like you woke up one morning and decided you'd rather be a social sycophant than a real, unique person!"

"Is it so much for me to want people to like me, Dan? Just because you're a total loner doesn't mean I have to be!"

"If you're willing to throw away everything that you used to be in order to be popular, then fine! But don't come whining to me when they don't like you!"

"What do you mean? Everybody likes me!"

"Jenny, have you met these people? All they care about is money and fashion and 'upward mobility'," Dan makes quotation marks with his fingers. "They'll dump you like yesterday's US Weekly in no time, and guess what, Jenny? You won't have anybody left to come back to!"

At this, Jenny looks ready to burst into sobs and Dan looks ready to commit sororicide. Nate comes forward from the crowd and puts his arm around Jenny to comfort her, much to Blair's dismay. Serena leaves Blair's side to stand by Dan.

Suddenly, the high school has been turned into a battlefield dividing families and many of the students there aren't sure they can handle it, deciding to leave at this point. The show is over and the aftermath isn't pretty.

Blair stands there, one final smirk on her face. Even Dan, the most socially challenged kid on the Upper East Side, knows what Jenny cannot seem to realize: Jenny doesn't belong. But Blair does, and Jenny will fall.

Serena glances back at her best friend, concerned, and sighs when she sees the familiar plotting look on Blair's face. But she is even more concerned when she sees Chuck Bass looking longingly at her oblivious best friend from across the courtyard. This stuff is too fucked-up for Serena to deal with. It's like a real-life soap-opera.

She turns to her boyfriend Dan and tries to be there for him, the only thing she knows how to do anymore.

**A/N**: Thank you so much to my beta maz4pj for all the suggestions! This chapter is only good because of her.

Feedback and reviews are always appreciated! Just click the little blue button…come on, I see your story-alerts, I know you're reading it… wink wink ˆˆ


	5. Day 5: Tuesday

Return of the Waldorf

Chapter 5

Day 5: Tuesday

Blair stirs her yogurt-and-fruit concoction with a spoon. Nonfat yogurt doesn't exactly enhance the taste of New York's off-season strawberries, but Blair is determined to eat healthy if it kills her.

Blair is halfway through her parfait when her mother sits down in front of her. Blair is appropriately shocked, since she usually only ever sees her mother at social events. Not to say that Eleanor Waldorf isn't a good mother, per say, but she isn't exactly heavily involved in the day-to-day events in Blair's life.

"Good morning, mother," Blair greets her politely. "How are you today?"

Eleanor fake-smiles. "Lovely, thank-you."

Blair offers up no more conversation while Eleanor sits there impatiently. Blair slowly lifts her spoon to her mouth and swallows the yogurt-coated berries, savoring the flavor.

"Anyway, Blair, I just wanted to confirm with you our plans for tomorrow night," Eleanor finally tells her. "It's very important that you are there with the Rodriguezes."

Blair takes out her Palm Pilot and scrolls down to the following night. "Wednesday, 7pm, Balducci's, modest cocktail dress," she reads. "Is that everything?"

Eleanor nods. "Yes, yes. Now, sweetheart, I don't want this to be too boring for you. You can even bring a date if you want to!"

Blair briefly pictures bringing a clean-cut date to the dinner and having Chuck harass him. No need to make an already awkward situation worse. "No, it's okay Mom, I think I'll survive."

Eleanor looks relieved. "I'm so glad you're helping me out on this," she chirps, "it's really so great of you!"

Blair raises her eyebrows. "Don't get used to it," she warns. "Chuck and I aren't exactly the picture of great teamwork."

Blair's brain keeps telling her that she's a liar, reminding her of the trouble their dynamic duo caused as kids. And pre-teens. And teenagers. Actually, they worked together just fine until…Blair's brain suddenly fills with vivid memories of her seventeenth birthday. Chuck and Blair had pretty good, um, teamwork that night too.

"I'm sure it'll be great, honey," Eleanor reassures her. "Anyway," she says, standing up, "I have to go. Work stuff. See you tomorrow?"

"Sure, Mom," Blair says blandly.

Dorota comes over as Eleanor leaves the room. "You're having dinner with Master Bass?" She asks, the hint of disapproval in her voice coming across loud and clear to Blair. She never was a fan of the ruffian.

Blair nods sadly.

Blair sees Chuck next at lunch that day. He's sitting across the courtyard from her, surrounded by his St. Jude's friends once again. Blair is sitting with just Serena today, since Dan is "sick."

"So how is Dan?" Blair inquires politely.

Serena shrugs sadly. "I mean, he's doing well, considering. It's not every day that your sister turns on you," she observes.

"It must really suck," Blair responds sympathetically. "After all, they used to be really close, right?"

"Their whole family was really close," Serena sighs. "I feel so bad knowing that I tore them apart, you know?"

"Hey, hey!" Blair shakes her head vigorously at her best friend. "Don't feel guilty about Dan and Jenny's argument. It isn't your fault."

"But it was about me!" Serena argues. "If I hadn't been in the picture, then-"

"It would have happened anyway about something else," Blair interrupts. "Jenny's goal in life is to be a member of the elite Upper East Side, and Dan's goal in life is to get away from that elite. In fact, you probably kept them close longer because you bridged that gap. But when the power went to Jenny's head, well…"

Serena looks serious. "Dan couldn't handle it?"

"Insulting you was the final straw, I think," Blair says decisively. "I mean, I think to him it was just a total disrespect of everything he stood for, you know?"

Serena considers this new thought. "I guess," she thinks. "But I still feel guilty."

"That's just how you are," Blair waves her hand dismissively. "Just take some lessons from me, and trust me, you'll feel better in no time."

Serena laughs, albeit weakly.

Serena's eyes wander. "Hey, there's Jenny," she notes. "What do you think she's doing hanging out with Nate so much?"

Blair looks incredulously at Serena. "What do you think? She's young and blonde and-" Blair evaluates Jenny briefly, "marginally attractive."

This time Serena really laughs and is distracted from her musings on Nate and Jenny's burgeoning relationship.

Yet Blair's interest is now piqued. She glances over to the table where Jenny and Nate are sitting. She notices Jenny smiling at Nate's lame jokes and watches Jenny fall for Nate's cheesy pick-up lines, letting him put an arm over her shoulder. The beginnings of young love, Blair realizes. Damn, she's getting less sharp by the day if she can't even prevent her ex-boyfriend from hooking up with her successor.

Thankfully, Blair doesn't have to see Jenny again for the rest of the day, since freshmen and juniors share no classes. She spends the rest of the day gabbing with Serena in the backs of the classrooms and passing notes when talking isn't possible.

The two chat and gossip on the way out of their final class of the afternoon. Serena and Blair amble slowly down the hall, in no hurry to head home and do homework. Since they are no longer part of the Constance Billiards social elite, invitations to weeknight parties have slowed to a trickle. Their social lives have been reduced to checking Gossip Girl for updates on everybody else's lives.

This is why they are both surprised when Kati and Iz approach them, even though nobody else is around.

"Hey Serena, hey Blair," the girls say in unison.

Serena smiles. She's missed Kati and Iz. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Kati and Iz exchange a knowing glance before Iz speaks. "Well, we just wanted to let you know that you both are invited to a party tonight at Robert Nieman's apartment."

Blair looks Kati and Iz up and down. "What do you mean?"

"Don't be stupid, Blair," Kati tells her condescendingly, rolling her eyes. "The party's at 9pm and Hazel's instructed that you and Serena are now officially invited."

Blair laughs hollowly. "Really? She said that?"

"Not in so many words," Iz grins. "She told us, her messengers," Iz says with a hint of distaste underlying the word 'messenger', "to invite the most powerful and influential girls in school. I guess she's looking for legitimacy at this party, or something."

Serena looks skeptical. "Wait, and you invited us?"

Kati shrugs. "We're just following her instructions," she informs them, "although I'm not sure if this is really a great path to social legitimacy, as I doubt you'll openly approve of her, but…"

Serena pauses. "Wait, why are you-"

Blair grabs Serena's wrist tightly and Serena closes her mouth. "We'll come," Blair tells the duo.

Iz and Kati have identical smirks on their faces. "See you at 9!" Kati calls as they walk off together.

Serena's eyebrows furrow slightly. "But why did they help us?" She asks Blair.

Blair chuckles. "I guess we've got more friends than we thought," she informs Serena.

Serena observes the lines deepening on the edges of Blair's smile. "Oh god, not that look again!" Serena groans in horror as her best friend starts to plot.

Serena and Blair show up to the party at about 10:30, intending to make a dramatic entrance. The party is already in full swing when they arrive, with most of the teenagers at the party on their way to being completely smashed.

"So glad you guys could make it!" Kati greets the pair warmly, a full shot glass in each hand. She offers one to each of them. "Vodka?" She asks.

"Sure," Serena tosses one back.

Blair declines the shot. She doesn't want to get drunk or even tipsy tonight. She will need all of her senses to master this situation. Besides, she's seen Veronica Mars: accepting any drink at a party with people who hate her is probably not a great idea. Even if Kati is being especially nice to her.

Iz pops up right next to Kati. "You made it!" Iz grins. "It's good to see you," she tells Serena and Blair. Then, turning to Blair only, she says, "Hey, B, find me later. There are some people I want you to meet."

Blair raises her eyebrows. "Sure, whatever," she agrees.

Iz and Kati smile secretively. "See you then!"

"This is so weird," Serena shakes her head as their former entourage walks off. "I can't believe they invited us."

Blair shrugs nonchalantly. "Hey, they were doing us a favor," she looks at Serena. "Can't argue with that."

The pair is still standing in the shadows at the entrance to the apartment. Serena points across the room. "Look, there's Dan!" She exclaims. "I can't believe he came, since he wasn't even at school today. I missed him…" she trails off.

"Alright, we'll go over there," Blair sighs, knowing that the route will take them past a group of people they certainly do not want to run into again.

Chuck Bass sits in the center of the room. He surveys the surrounding area: Nate and Jenny making out on the couch; Hazel sending him flirty looks from the makeshift bar; random kids that he's sure he knows in the real world getting drunk off their ass. Nobody stands out until…he spots her.

Blair Waldorf is scanning the room as well, doing her best to find a route across the room that will avoid the center, where she can clearly make out Chuck's form, even in the dim light.

But Chuck doesn't know all of this. All he can see is Blair herself. His eyes travel hungrily over her long, curly, coffee-colored hair, the innocent yet sexy little black dress clinging to her curves, and her perfectly bow-shaped pink lips. God, Chuck wants her.

Unfortunately, Chuck realizes as his eyes sweep the room, every other guy in the room has noticed Blair too. Even Jeremy Anderson, who professed the day before to not understand Blair's allure, is transfixed by her seductive appearance. Even Serena seems to pale in comparison to Blair's sensual, striking figure.

Every male eye in the room follows Blair as she attempts to make her way towards Dan Humphrey with Serena at her side. Chuck has no idea how Dan Humphrey, or even Blair and Serena for that matter, got an invitation to this supposedly exclusive party, but he's damn grateful.

Chuck watches in jealousy as Blair flirts with some seniors from a different Upper East Side prep school. The preppy, clean-cut jocks seem to swell their chests with pride as Blair talks to them. Chuck notices Blair's carefully-hidden nervousness as she declines a proffered cup of beer. He grins. So at least she's not as powerful as she looks.

Blair smiles a little as she chats with William Hanover, a lacrosse player from another exclusive private school, Riverside Prep. She can tell other girls at the party are jealous of her, even as they disdain her. But no other girl dared approach. After all, how can they compare to this beautiful girl that has charmed every boy in the room?

"Blairrrrr," Hazel slurs as she stumbles over to the couple, grabbing Blair's arm to steady herself. "You slut," Hazel waggles her finger at Blair drunkenly. "Are you seducing another wealthy teenage boy? Just to get his money? Chuck's still recovering from all the STDs you gave him, poor boy…"

Blair laughs. "You're just jealous that no guy, especially not one with a trust fund, wants to be seen with you outside of a janitor's closet, Hazel."

Hazel recoils and looks confused. Her drunken haze has slowed her comebacks and she isn't sure if she should be offended or not.

Blair trails a finger along the top of Hazel's hideous dress. It is purple, with more feathers and glitter and rhinestones adorning it than on a Vegas showgirl's costume. "I can see why," Blair continues wryly. "Who would want to be seen with anyone who wears this monstrosity?"

Hazel shakes her head. "At least I'm not a slut, Blair. Moving on from Nate so fast?" She gestures loosely towards William.

Blair looks pointedly at her ex-boyfriend Nathaniel Archibald making out with Jenny Humphrey on the couch. "Hey, I was faithful to Nate," she tells Hazel. "How long do you think he waited before jumping the first blonde he saw?"

Jenny pulls out of her kiss with Nate and shoots an angry glare at Blair. Blair shrugs. Jenny deserved it. So did Nate, for that matter.

"Hey, what's your problem, Blair?" Jenny asks with annoyance.

Bad idea.

"My problem?" Blair responds, suddenly furious. "My problem?" Blair shakes her head in mock sadness. "Oh, Little J, if you don't know the problem I have with you then you are in way over your head here."

"Look, leave her alone," Nate tells his ex-girlfriend. "She didn't do anything to deserve you acting like this."

Even worse idea.

"Oh she didn't, did she?" Blair snaps accusingly. "How long did you wait before jumping that gold-digging slut, Nate, two hours?"

"She's not a slut, Blair!" Nate defends his girlfriend. "And she wasn't the one who betrayed me."

Blair ignores this barb. There is nothing that she could say that would sway any minds about who betrayed who. Instead, she decides to focus on the weak spot in Nate's argument: Jenny.

"Right," Blair drawls. "She's just so innocent she just happened to fall into your lap the moment she got you away from me. She's just so desperate to be me…" Blair sighs dramatically. Her eyes travel disdainfully over the hideous orange dress she specifically told Jenny not to buy two days before. "Sadly she clearly doesn't know what to do without the benefit of my sage advice and, of course, my fashionable hand-me-downs."

Every girl within earshot snickers at that. They'd been making fun of Hazel and Jenny's outfits since they got there.

Hazel, however, is not pleased. "You're not welcome here anymore, Blair," she says, struggling to maintain control over the party. She looks pointedly at Blair. "I think it would be a good time for you to leave."

To everybody in the room's surprise, Blair only laughs. "Well, if you say so, Hazel," she shrugs agreeably. As the upper echelons of Manhattan teenage society watch in confusion and admiration, Blair slings her favorite Marc Jacobs handbag over her shoulder, tosses her hair, and blows the room a kiss before winking and strolling out. Serena and Dan stare dumbly after her, unsure whether or not they should follow.

Chuck swears underneath his breath. Blair is obviously still pining over Nate if she got that jealous over seeing Nate and Jenny make out. Pissed off as hell, Chuck wants revenge. Hazel sways as she walks by him, doing her best to wink flirtatiously before practically collapsing on his lap.

"Chuckie…" she coos, running her hands over his chest before pulling him into a sloppy kiss.

Chuck does his best to lose himself in lust. Anything is better than the emotional rollercoaster that was Blair Waldorf.

At that very moment, that self-same Blair Waldorf is riding back to her apartment in a taxi. She hears her phone buzz and fishes it out of her purse, assuming it is Serena. She clicks on the "1 New Message" and is surprised to see that it is from Iz:

_2 bad u had 2 leave, the party was just getting good. Hey, u never met the people i talked about, can u stay late after school 2morrow? C u then._

Blair leans back contentedly. Iz and Kati were up to something. Blair didn't know what, but she'd bet her Manolo Blahnik snakeskin boots that it had something to do with returning Blair to her rightful position on the top of the social food chain. Anyway you sliced it, it meant that Blair had something to be looking forward to.

**A/N: **Thank you to my awesome beta maz4pj! I'm sorry that this chapter took longer than I promised but I had major RL issues (as usual). On the bright side, it's far longer than usual! Yay! :)

So please, please, please tell me what you think and click the pretty blue button to review!


	6. Day 6: Wednesday

Return of the Waldorf

Chapter 6

Day 6: Wednesday

Blair arrives at school on Wednesday nervous. She doesn't want to harm her chances of regaining her social status by a stray rude comment. Even though Blair's comments at Robert Nielsen's party the previous night seemed to have been received well by the students, Blair definitely lost control. Even though she had been sober, Blair recognizes that she just can't be trusted to keep her mouth shut.

So Blair's intention for the day is to stay out of sight. Unfortunately, the multitalented Blair Waldorf has many so-called superpowers, but none of them include invisibility.

Blair thus hurries into her first-period American Literature class and takes a seat in the back. She immediately puts her head down to take notes. She is very surprised when the girl sitting at the desk turns around, with a face that Blair recognizes vaguely as belonging with a name like Genevieve, and catches Blair's eye and smiles genuinely.

Blair bites her lip apprehensively, not sure if this is a good or bad sign. When the girl next to Genevieve also turns Blair's way and gives her an approving wink, Blair actually grins. When both girls grin back, Blair relaxes. Maybe more girls are switching back to support her than she had previously thought.

And maybe, Blair realizes, Hazel never really convinced all of the girls in the first place.

The thought keeps a self-satisfied expression on Blair's face for the rest of class.

Blair's newly regained confidence during class carries over into the break. Blair smirks noticeably at Jenny as she passes her in the hallway, causing Jenny to stop and glare.

Blair just shrugs and makes as if she is going to start walking again before Jenny steps closer and lowers her voice so the conversation is private.

"Look, I don't know who the hell you think you are anymore, but it's not anybody important, okay? So stop acting like it or you'll regret it," Jenny threatens with her best tough-girl pose.

There's a hint of a smile on Blair's face. "What are you going to do? Hide behind Nate as he tears me apart with his scathing wit?" Both Blair and Jenny know that Blair could beat Nate any day, verbally or otherwise.

"Besides," Blair adds, "who do you think you are?" Blair pauses and waits for Jenny to respond. It is when Jenny tries to answer that Blair continues. "You're certainly not me, Jenny, and that's who you need to be in order to rule this school."

With that, Blair turns on her heel and heads for the courtyard, leaving a bitter Jenny behind her. Blair is very proud: not only has Little J been properly insulted, but Jenny is also getting the hint that she'll be losing her newfound position of power.

Good. Blair wouldn't want Jenny to be out of the loop or anything.

At lunch that day, Blair is heading with her lunch tray over to where Serena and Dan are sitting on a bench in the corner of the courtyard when she bumps into Iz, literally. Blair is forced to stop for a second and Iz takes the opportunity to murmur, "Meet me after school in Tribeca, okay?"

Even though Iz doesn't specify before she walks off, Blair knows exactly where she is talking about. Blair had always preferred to have a location to meet and chat with her friends that wasn't quite as close to the Upper East Side and thus not as heavily monitored by Gossip Girl. Blair's favorite place was a no-name café in Tribeca that was near the waterfront. Blair is happy to out of Gossip Girl's sight, even if it is just for one afternoon.

Blair sits down next to Serena. "Tribeca after school?" Blair queries.

Serena looks quizzically at Blair. "What for?"

"Iz invited me," Blair does her best to sound nonchalant. "Why not?"

The corners of Serena's mouth turn down. "Blair, be careful with Kati and Iz."

Blair only raises her eyebrows in response.

"Look, Blair, they're tricky," Serena reminds her best friend. "They weren't our friends for so long because they were dumb. Besides, you never know what's really going on in their heads."

Blair nods agreeably. "A good point," she affirms. "But I'm still going. So are you with me?"

Serena looks at Dan. "I told Dan I'd hang out at his apartment after school…"

"It's not a big deal," Dan reassures her. "Go to your stupid girl-plotting thing and I'll see you afterwards."

Serena's face lights up and she hugs her boyfriend, who rolls his eyes.

Blair sighs. Sometimes her best friend was just so sickening.

Blair is very thankful for Serena that day after school, however. As they shared a taxi heading downtown, Serena speaks up.

"Hey, Blair?"

Blair, who is thumbing through her Palm Pilot, answers distractedly. "Yes?"

"What exactly are you expecting out of this?"

"Nothing, really," Blair says vaguely.

Serena fixes her best friend with a knowing stare. "Nothing? Then why are we going?"

Blair doesn't rise to the bait. "Kati and Iz might be able to help us."

"Really? What if they're working for Hazel?" Serena asks challengingly.

Blair finally turns to face Serena. "Hazel doesn't have half the subtlety for this kind of stuff, and you know it. But Kati and Iz do, which makes me think they're running it on their own. I don't know what their goal is, but I'm for anything that Hazel is left out of."

Serena contemplates this thoughtfully for a moment. "I guess we can give it a chance," she says finally.

"Good," Blair motions to the door of the now-stopped taxi. "Because we're here."

Blair and Serena enter the café and quickly spot Kati and Iz sitting at a table with five or six other girls. Blair recognizes among them Hazel's sidekick Nicky and the two girls who smiled at her this morning in American Lit. She and Serena sit down at the two open seats left for them with a fair amount of trepidation.

"So, what's going on, Iz?" Blair directs the question to the person who invited her.

Iz and Kati exchange glances, apparently deciding who will explain. Finally, Iz explains delicately. "We need to…alter the social structure around here."

Serena raises her eyebrows skeptically. "Why would you want to do that?" She asks, disbelieving that Kati and Iz would want to do something that would help her and Blair.

Kati and Iz share a disbelieving glance before turning back to Serena. "Have you noticed that an incompetent skank is running the school?" Iz responds incredulously.

"It's not even the sluttiness," Kati explains. "I mean, if it were just that it would be okay." Iz nods in confirmation as Kati continues, "But she doesn't even understand social anything! Decorum, secrecy, everything is like a joke to her. In like five days, she's inadvertently exposed at least three secret relationships that girls in the clique have-well, had."

Two of the girls at the table all sigh in annoyance at this.

"It's like she doesn't even care about the preservation of order, you know?" Iz adds. "I mean, girls are defecting fast."

"Really?" Blair asks, intrigued.

Iz sweeps her arms, gesturing towards all the girls at the table.

Iz sighs, crossing her arms. "It's going to split the school."

Kati laughs. "As if there's going to be anybody left on her side by the end."

Nicky laughs. "So true," she mutters.

"Are you guys going to be?" Blair asks outright.

Iz and Kati look at Blair pityingly, almost. "You know we're on your side, B," Iz says finally. "As if we could stand even another week of that loser in charge."

Kati nods in agreement. "We'd officially defect to you right know, Blair, if we didn't think we'd be infinitely more helpful getting information from Hazel's side," she explains.

Blair's eyebrows furrow as she contemplates this unexpected windfall. Suddenly, her plot to return to power is no longer on the fringes of the social consciousness. Now, it is expected, even anticipated, by the girls at Constance Billiards.

"So what are you thinking?" Blair asks finally.

The girls around the table all share a conspiratorial grin. "We were hoping to expose a few secrets about Hazel herself," Genevieve, the girl from Blair's American Lit class, explains.

Blair and Serena listen attentively as the rest of the plans are laid out for them. By the end of the meeting, Blair is convinced that these girls are truly on her side. If nothing else, Blair reflects, at least they hate Hazel just as much as she does.

However, time fades away and Blair has to race back uptown to shower and get ready at her apartment before that evening's meeting with the Rodriguezes. And, of course, Chuck Bass.

Blair opens up her web browser and checks the Gossip Girl homepage as she blow-dries her hair. She sees the main headline and nearly chokes.

_C and H hook up!_

Blair clicks on the link and is confronted with a huge picture of Chuck and Hazel making out. She scans the text below it.

_As Gossip Girl can exclusively confirm from many independent sources, C and H were all over each other at a party last night. After B took on the entire ruling clique (and by many reports, won), C and H apparently drowned their sorrows in each other. They weren't seen together at school today, but rumors abound that C has asked H to 'hang out' again. Will C and H be the UES's newest power couple? Stay tuned!_

Blair's mind rushes with conflicted emotions. She is naturally proud that Gossip Girl has reported her as winning in her verbal argument against Hazel, not that it was much of a contest. She is disgusted that Chuck and Hazel, two of the most promiscuous people on the Upper East Side, have hooked up. And is that jealousy twisting Blair's stomach into knots?

If it is, Blair certainly is not planning on admitting it. She tries to forget the way she feels when Chuck sends her his usual lascivious look or kisses her senseless. Briefly, she is thrown back to Saturday night, and she sighs. It is so hard for her to admit to enjoying the caresses of a boy who alternately begs for her and tosses her away.

She takes out her curling iron and applies eye makeup as it heats up. As she smudges her eyeliner into her lash line, Blair pretends to herself that she had always been planning to dress sexy for the dinner with the Rodriguezes.

Although Blair is usually prompt, she decides that tonight is a good time for a more dramatic entrance. She sweeps into Balducci's ten minutes late, after she is sure that every other person attending has already arrived.

"So sorry I'm late," Blair chirps as she kisses her mother's cheek. She gives a polite wave to Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez and Bart Bass. She turns to give Chuck a curt nod when she sees her.

Hazel sits there, smirking, wearing a dress with the lowest neckline Blair has ever seen, the v-neck shape plunging nearly to her navel.

Blair swallows the bile rising to her throat and forces a smile onto her face. It doesn't reach her eyes.

Blair sits down in the only empty seat at the table, between little nine-year-old Tommy Rodriguez and her mother. Chuck sits across from her and Blair just knows that Chuck will take this opportunity for footsie. Again.

As the table awaits the arrival of their drinks, Blair makes polite conversation with just about everyone, charming all. Even Tommy seems placid and nothing like the tiny terror Blair remembered from a week ago. The only person left out of this socializing is Hazel, whom Blair ignores completely.

Blair's mother turns to her daughter during appetizers and keeps her voice low as she asks, "Why are you ignoring that girl, Hazy? I told you that you could bring a date as well."

Blair puts on her best remorseful face. "Was I? I didn't mean to at all, I just didn't have anything to say to her."

Blair raises her voice to a normal level and turns to Hazel with an unreadable expression on her face. "So, Hazel, I didn't realize you knew Chuck. How do you guys know each other, again?"

For the first time that evening, Chuck actually looks at Blair. Even when Blair had been asking obligatory questions about Victrola, he had focused on other people at the table when answering. He is scared of losing his cool around her. Hazel may have had on an unusually slutty dress, but her overt propositioning was nothing compared to Blair's sensual sexuality literally glowing around her.

Chuck observes Blair coolly, not bothering to help his date as she struggles with an appropriate answer. Finally Hazel comes up with some ramble about how she and Chuck had been dating for a few months now and it all sounds so ridiculous that even Bart Bass is raising an eyebrow at Chuck.

Chuck just shrugs nonchalantly at his father. Not his problem that Hazel's crazy. Bart Bass looks to Hazel for a moment, then to Blair, and then back to his son, beginning to piece together the true social landscape of the teenagers on the Upper East Side.

Chuck proceeds to ignore his date for the rest of the night, leaving Hazel annoyed and alone. Chuck instead focuses on containing the seemingly boundless energy of Tommy Rodriguez, awoken by the first sip of his soda. Tommy alternately devoured and picked at his food and managed to upend his cup three times despite being under the watchful eyes of Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf.

The third time that Tommy upends his glass he manages to completely soak the upper half of Blair in Coca Cola. Blair's jaw drops and Hazel smiles for possibly the first time that night.

As Blair dabs futilely at her now-ruined dress, the Rodriguezes apologize profusely. Blair suspects that it is this guilt that causes Alexandra and Joseph Rodriguez to agree to fund a substantial investment into Bart and Eleanor's proposal.

Nevertheless, Blair hisses to her mother as the dinner is ending, her mother so owes her.

"I'm sorry, darling," Eleanor whispers back. "You know I didn't mean for your dress to be ruined."

Blair glares a little at her mother.

Eleanor sighs. "Look, let me just say good-bye to Bart, Alexandra, and Joseph, okay? Then we can just take you home from here and you can change." She snaps her fingers. "Wait! I just thought of something." She rummages through her oversized Betsey Johnson bag and extricates a thin slip of a dress. "I have this left over from a photoshoot the other week. You can wear this until we get home so you don't feel so icky. Won't that be better?"

Blair accepts the proffered dress grudgingly. It would certainly be nice to not have Coca Cola all over her. Too bad her mother didn't remember the spare dress earlier.

Blair makes her way to the family bathroom in the back hallway of Balducci's and is dressed only in her bra and panties when she hears a knock on the door.

Chuck had watched Blair courteously excuse herself from the departing group to change her outfit and he seized his one chance. He made up some gibberish for Hazel about how he needed to go retrieve something from the maitre'd, and when Hazel wasn't looking followed Blair into the back hallway.

"Blair, let me in, quick, before somebody sees," Chuck knocks on the bathroom door frantically.

Blair logically knows that she wants to keep Chuck away from her, but she figures that it would be better for him to not be out there giving away the fact that they still had somewhat of a relationship. So without thinking, she quickly opens the door and motions him in. She leans over to deadbolt the door once he is inside so that no wandering dinner guest will enter.

Chuck is in shock. Blair is wearing nothing but a lacy demi-cup bra and thong panties, showcasing every glorious curve and the endless smooth skin of her body. His eyes travel her body leisurely, his own pants tightening.

Blair flushes as she realizes how she is dressed, quickly reaching for the slip and pulling it over her head.

Chuck frowns as her luscious body is covered up, but consoles himself with the fact at least her long legs are still visible for his ogling pleasure.

"Bass, what do you want?" Blair hisses.

Chuck gives her a once-over, lingering on her (sadly concealed) breasts and hips. "Do you really have to ask?"

Blair rolls her eyes in annoyance. "I mean, other than that. Don't you have a girl that can satisfy those needs for you?"

Chuck gives her an incredulous look. "Are you kidding? You know you're the hottest girl at Constance," he tells her.

"You told me you didn't want me anymore," Blair says slowly, as if to a child.

"And you believed it?" Chuck's silky-smooth voice glides over Blair and makes her shiver. She pretends the shiver is due to her current state of dress.

"I'm not your toy," She sighs. "I can't just wait around for you."

"But you have, Blair," Chuck tries to convince her. "You could have moved on with that boring, stuck-up Nate substitute, but you didn't. You're still waiting now. I'm here with you. What's the problem?"

Blair looks at Chuck in annoyance. "The problem is you. You can't even commit to me! I'm sick of you just using me as some sort of fuck buddy."

"But you like it so much," Chuck purrs, reaching out a hand to stroke her shoulder. "Besides, isn't it fun?"

Blair steps back from his outstretched arm. "That's not the point, and you know it."

"Oh, isn't it, though?" Chuck muffles any further objections by sweeping Blair into another kiss, taking the opportunity to smooth his hands over her silk slip.

After Hazel waited outside the restaurant for several minutes before realizing that clearly, Chuck was going to take a while with the maitre'd and she wanted to use the occasion to follow Blair and get some dirt on her. Hazel slips back into the restaurant and presses her ear against the family bathroom that she is sure Blair is changing in.

She is just in time to hear the tail end of the opening line of what she assumes to be a phone conversation Blair is having.

"…what do you want?" Blair's voice floats clearly through the bathroom door.

Another voice that Hazel can't place comes through more muffled. "Do you really need to ask?" Hazel figures it must be some secret lover of Blair's on speakerphone.

Hazel glances down at her own phone, which is recording this conversation. It will be the perfect way to further the ruin of the reputation of Blair Waldorf once it is released on Gossip Girl.

A/N: Thanks to maz4pj for the beta! I hope you all enjoyed Blair and Chuck finally having it out! :) I will be posting these chapters close to every day now because I have four more chapters and one epilogue until the story ends and my self-imposed deadline is next Monday.

Feedback is better than Waldass love!


	7. Day 7: Thursday

Return of the Waldorf

Chapter 7

Day 7: Thursday

Blair blinks in the sunlight streaming across her face, waking her up from a very pleasant dream. She instinctively blushes, recalling the subject of it. It had been a reenactment of the very pleasurable encounter she had with Chuck Bass the previous night in the bathroom at Balducci's. She shakes her head and forces herself to focus. She glances over to check the neon glowing numbers on her alarm clock.

7:53am? Damn, she was supposed to be up an hour ago. She has to leave for school in twenty minutes!

Blair runs a comb through her tangled bed-head of hair, too rushed for time to be able to shower. She carefully applies concealer under her eyes and mascara to her lashes, all to make her appear more awake.

Blair hurries around her room, gathering her materials for school. Her book bag is already packed, lying on the floor where she discarded it the previous day, but she can't find some essentials. Blair finally locates her Palm Pilot and M.A.C. Lip Conditioner, but she can't find her phone. When did she last have it? Her mind flashes back to the previous night.

_Chuck nibbles on Blair's neck, pushing her gently backwards until she wraps her legs around his waist and he hoists her onto the counter. Blair's hip bumps her purse and knocks it to the ground, her Sidekick sliding across the floor into a corner._

"_Chuck…" she attempts to pull away. "I need to grab that."_

_She moans as Chuck's tongue laves a particularly sensitive spot next to her collarbone. "It'll still be there later," he murmurs against her skin, and any thoughts of Blair's phone have fled her mind._

Now Blair remembers where her phone is.

She resolves to call Balducci's to arrange a retrieval of said Sidekick right away…later, she realizes, as she checks her watch. Blair can't believe that Chuck got her distracted enough for her to forget her phone, which was practically a fifth appendage of her body. But now is not the time for such contemplations, as Blair is late for her dramatic arrival at school.

A few streets over, Kati Farkas is checking her own phone on her way to school. It buzzes. Gossip Girl has sent her an update. She scans it and her carefully controlled facial expression falters and she blanches.

Blair arrives at school more confident than she has any other day in the past week. She is on her way to reclaiming her crown and the entire student body knows it. She strides down through the courtyard wearing her most satisfied smile and swinging her hips a little.

She is surprised, however, when she gets looks reminiscent of last Thursday. Girls whisper about her to their friends as she passes and boys smirk and point.

Blair gets to her locker and is surprised to find Kati there.

"What's wrong?" Blair asks in a low voice. "I thought we weren't going to acknowledge each other during school, so we don't set off any suspicion."

Kati runs her fingers through her hair nervously. "Well, I think we have bigger problems than that, Blair."

Blair's brow furrows in suspicion. "What do you mean?"

Kati hands her phone to Blair. "Gossip Girl updated."

"Ohmigod," Blair breathes as she reads the post.

_Gossip Girl Exclusive: B and her Secret Lover_

_Gossip Girl has exclusively obtained a recording of a conversation that B had with a boy, presumably on her cell phone, last night. We thought that Nate and Chuck had unfairly cast aspersions on poor B's reputation, but clearly we were wrong. Click below to hear the recording:_

_Link_

_The recording is pretty self-explanatory, but it starts after they greeted each other, so we have no names. So the only question is…who's the mystery guy?_

Blair clicks on the link. Her own voice floats out of the phone, tinny and distorted by the tiny speakers. "What do you want?" She presses the end key to shut off the media player.

"Do they know who the guy is yet?" Blair asks Kati.

Kati shakes her head. "People are guessing, of course. That William guy from Tuesday night, a Yale alum, Hugh Hefner. But nobody's come forward, which is good."

Blair laughs hollowly. "Relatively speaking."

Kati ignores this. "Hey, we have to get to class. I'll see you later, okay?"

Blair stands at her locker for a moment as Kati walks off. Who could possibly have made that recording? Blair doubts that Hazel had that initiative, which left only…Chuck. Her eyes narrowed. That fucking liar.

There is another excruciating weekly assembly that day. Just like the previous Thursday, Blair must attend a school-wide assembly and spend forty minutes being stared at by her peers. And, unfortunately, Blair is still the head of the Social Committee.

Which is why she finds herself standing up in front of both St. Jude's School for Boys and Constance Billiards' School for Girls making an announcement, doing her best to ignore the smirks of her classmates. Yet even out of all the sneering stares Blair can still pick out a few of them. Hazel with her nose in the air; Little J looking vindicated; Nate sporting a look of special disgust; Chuck leering.

Blair inhales and does her best to ignore them.

"Another committee meeting will be held at Café Angelique's at 4pm this Saturday," Blair proclaims. "Additionally, a school-wide rally has been called to discuss and vote on the new dance regulations. Attendance is not mandatory but," she glances at her teachers, "highly recommended." She pauses. "It will be held on Saturday at 5:30pm, right after the Social Committee meeting. It will take place right here, I believe."

The student body would usually groan at being forced to go to school on a Saturday, but this particular rally was of importance because it would determine the strictness of the next school-sponsored social function. And on the Upper East Side, every social event is important.

Blair must once more deal with the accusing stares of her classmates at lunch that day. She does her best to slip unnoticed into the courtyard, but of course nothing escapes the attention of gossip-hungry teenage girls. Her entrance is met with loud whispers and snickers.

Blair looks straight in front of her and marches directly towards the table where Serena and Dan are sitting, avoiding any eye contact with other people. She hears snatches of conversations as she passes, all about her.

"God, this is a nightmare," Blair murmurs to Serena as she sits down. "I was really hoping we could implement the plan we talked about with the girls last night as soon as possible, but I guess we'll have to delay things for a few days because of this idiocy-"

"Everything's still going according to schedule," Iz assures Blair as she sits down, Kati close behind. "I've checked with every girl at the meeting today and they all just want Hazel gone even more."

"Why?" Serena asks in confusion. "I thought now they wouldn't want to be associated with Blair." Seeing her best friend's face, she tries to apologize. "No offense to you, B, of course."

Blair rolls her eyes at Serena but doesn't respond. Kati takes the opportunity to explain, "This is just what we all hate about Hazel. She loves to out people's secrets and that pisses a lot of girls off. She has no social tact."

"And it was particularly tactless of her to expose Blair now," Iz adds. "Especially since a lot of people are considering defecting to Blair anyway because of Hazel's incompetency. This just confirms their concerns."

"By the way, Hazel won't be confronting you today," Kati lets Blair know. "She'd like to mock you, but she figures it's better to do if from afar where you can't tear her down verbally. She remembers the outcomes of the last few."

Blair is still stuck on something Kati said earlier. "Wait, Hazel was the one who got this recording?"

"Yeah," Kati confirms as if it was obvious. "She's been bragging about it all day. How Chuck invited her to dinner with his father at Balducci's and how she followed you afterwards while Chuck was talking to the maitre d'. She thinks she's just so sneaky," Kati snickers a little.

Serena turns to Blair and raises an eyebrow. "While Chuck was talking to the maitre d', huh?"

Blair ignores Serena's implication. "You heard Kati," she shrugs. "That's what Hazel says."

Iz looks at Blair for a moment, having caught Serena's innuendo. "Wait, who was that guy in the conversation, anyway? He sounded really familiar."

"I'll tell you some other time," Blair snaps. "It's really not something I'd like to discuss."

Iz and Kati both purse their lips. They might be Blair's friends, but they still appreciate juicy gossip.

"Hey, why are you guys sitting with us, anyway?" Blair realizes.

Iz raises her hands in a half shrug. "We figured you could use some back-up, and we've got plenty of girls on the inside anyway," she explains.

"Makes sense," Blair muses. "I appreciate it a lot, thanks you guys."

Kati and Iz just smile. "Anytime."

Blair leaves the slightly awkward conversation to scan the courtyard a little, just to see how the social groups are reacting. She spots the last person she wants to see, Chuck, waggling his fingers at Nate and Jenny.

_Chuck's fingers trace circles on her bare thigh and Blair shivers. They float up to the edge of her tiny slip and start to lift it over her head. Chuck does this tentatively, with none of his usual aggression. It is as if he is still afraid that she will back out._

_Blair doesn't think that she could possibly stop this now. Being with Chuck feels too good to even consider ending it. She gives Chuck a reassuring smile and murmurs against his ear._

"_You know you want to."_

_Thirty seconds later, Blair's slip lies abandoned in the corner with her Sidekick._

Chuck still doesn't sit with Nate at lunch, but they now exchange at least a friendly greeting. It isn't much compared to their old friendship, but at least its progress, Chuck reflects. He waves a hand to 

Nate and Jenny as they pass, heading towards Hazel's table, and Nate smiles back. Little J, as usual, ignores him. Not that he blames her.

Chuck's friend Jeremy turns to him. "Man, now I think I get it about that Blair chick," Jeremy announces.

"Why?" Chuck asks tiredly. Chuck never needed to be convinced of Blair's worth. Even when he had lied to her about not wanting her, Chuck had still been pining. Now, Chuck is still pining but a little pissed, too. One would think that another night of fun and debauchery in a bathroom would at least merit an acknowledgement in the hallway, although a phone call would be preferable.

Jeremy grins. "I mean, I used to think she was all stuck-up and shit but dude, did you hear that recording on Gossip Girl?"

Chuck's expression informs him that no, he did not hear that recording on Gossip Girl.

"Well, it was this conversation between Blair and some dude and it was all about how the guy only wanted her for her body, and I dunno, they must have had some hot phone sex or something because there were a few sexy sounds at the end," Jeremy nods his head and smirks. "If you know what I mean."

Chuck's eyes automatically flick to Blair across the courtyard. As if she can feel his gaze, Blair looks back at him, their eyes meeting, before they both return to their friends.

"Do you know who the guy is?" Chuck does his best to act nonchalant.

Jeremy shakes his head. "Nah, that's the weird part," he tells his friend. "Even though they talk a lot, Hazel didn't manage to record his name." He laughs. "Too bad, I bet that guy'd have some stories to tell!"

Chuck does not laugh with him. What will happen when someone recognizes his voice? And yes, it is a question of when and not if, because there are certainly people out there that know him well enough to do that.

When Nate lifts his head and gives Chuck a weird look, Chuck swears a little on the inside. He's keeping his phone off tonight; he doesn't need any wacky accusations from his ex-best friend.

Blair, however, is glued to her phone all night. After stopping by Balducci's to retrieve her Sidekick, she proceeded to check all of her voicemails (eight new) and respond to every text message (sixty-five new). She is now chatting on the phone to Iz's phone but due to the fact that Kati and Iz are basically joined at the hip, all three of them are talking.

"So, is the plan still on track?" Blair asks lazily as she reclines on her bed.

"Yup," Iz and Kati nod, even though Blair can't see them. Iz continues, "It's all ready for Saturday. I've got some stuff I'm about to send to Gossip Girl now, so that we can sort of spread this gingerbread-crumb trail of secrets to the truth."

"Sounds good," Blair smiles. "So what do you need me to do?"

Iz thinks for a moment. "It would be good if you could stay out of any big scenes tomorrow," she finally decides. "We don't want the news of any confrontation to take the place of Hazel and her nastiness on the front page of Gossip Girl."

"Can do," Blair notes. "Anything else?"

What Iz and Kati were going to answer ends up being drowned out as Eleanor Waldorf enters Blair's room.

"Hold on a sec," Blair mutters into the phone before setting it down next to her, not bothering to end the call. This shouldn't take long. "Hey, mom," she says cheerily.

"Honey, I just wanted to thank you for helping me and Bart out yesterday," Eleanor begins. "I know it was difficult for you to work with Chuck, but you handled Tommy very well and the Rodriguezes are now fully sponsoring this latest project," she tells her daughter. "Besides, it wasn't too bad, was it? I mean, it seemed like you and Chuck got along okay."

"Chuck and I got along fine, Mom," Blair says in exasperation. Her traitorous brain reminds her how fine they did get along. And how much Blair wants to them to get along fine many, many more times in the future. She internally sighs and steers away from hat train of thought. The previous night, although amazing, clearly meant nothing to Chuck, as he barely acknowledged her that day at school. "Can I talk to my friends now?"

"Of course, of course," Eleanor sighs. "I just wanted to thank you for helping."

"No problem," Blair waves her mother out.

"You spent last night with Chuck?" Kati asks slowly.

Blair chews her lip nervously. "No. I just was at a business dinner that he also attended," Blair says, not exactly lying.

"So…Chuck isn't the other guy in the conversation?" Iz's grin is practically audible over the phone line.

Blair doesn't want to lie to her friends. "I didn't say that," she finally admits.

Iz and Kati's squeals of excitement are heard round the world.

A/N: Thanks maz4pj for the beta! I hope you all liked this chapter and remember, feedback is better than Waldass love!


	8. Day 8: Friday

Return of the Waldorf

Chapter 8

Day 8: Friday

Friday morning heralds the end of a long school week for most schoolchildren. However, for Blair Waldorf it heralds a new beginning. A beginning of the end to Hazel's reign, the beginning of Blair's renewed power, a beginning of a fresh start for Blair.

Blair stands outside the brick archway marking the entrance to the Constance Billiards School for Girls. The shadows from a large elm tree partially obscure her from the view of passerby. Blair is glad to be hidden from the prying views of Gossip Girl and her cronies, even if it is only for the last fifteen minutes before the school bell rings.

Blair flips open her phone. She knows she has to be fully updated on Gossip Girl before school starts.

She grins when she sees the latest headline on the blog:

_The Life and Times of a Skank-In-Training_

Beneath it is a full color picture of Hazel, clad only in lacy undergarments, straddling a boy Blair recognizes as belonging to one of the richest families on the Upper East Side. The picture is followed by a link: "A Photo Diary of Hazel Wood's Colorful First Week as Queen."

Blair eagerly clicks the link.

Numerous graphic photos fill the screen, each depicting Hazel with a different boy from the Upper East Side. Sometimes Hazel is just kissing the boy, but more often the pictures are more racy, although they stop short of full nudity (thankfully).

Under each photograph is the date and time it was taken. Blair raises her eyebrows when she realizes every picture had been taken in the last week. Her eyebrows shoot even higher when she estimates the number of pictures on the screen. There are at least fifteen different boys featured in the photo diary.

Blair resists the urge to laugh. This will surely ruin Hazel. Which boy will ever want to be associated with her now, knowing the sheer number of others she has been with? And what girl would ever want to imply association who appears to be the sluttiest girl at Constance Billiards?

Blair clicks back to the main Gossip Girl page and scrolls down, checking for any mention of herself. She finds, unfortunately, that it is the next article.

_Who is Blair Waldorf's Mystery Man?_

_Gossip Girl here. I have personally listened to the fifteen-minute recording of Blair Waldorf and her secret lover several times and even I cannot figure out his identity. The recording starts just as Blair asks _

_her lover "What do you want?" and from it is merely verbal foreplay before the moans start. Any post-coitus we are not privy to, since the recording ends with a voice instructing the listener to leave._

_The big question is when was this recording made? You know we love scandal here, and you know nothing stays secret on the Upper East Side for long. If the recording surfaced Thursday morning, chances are it was made sometime on Wednesday. So tell, dear readers, where did you see Blair Waldorf on Wednesday?_

_We can't wait to find out!_

Blair thanks God for Hazel's complete incompetence. If it had been Blair, she would have easily put two and two together and helped Gossip Girl out by pointing a finger at Chuck. Of course, Blair reflects, Hazel is far too dim-witted to realize that Chuck wasn't perfectly attentive at dinner.

With this happy idea occupying her thoughts, Blair marches off to first period.

Blair spends her first few classes blissfully content. Sure, her social life is practically zero at the moment, but all she needs is a few more days and she'll be back on top.

Reality comes crashing down at lunch when Blair enters the courtyard and remembers that she is still at the bottom. She scans the area for the long, blond hair that makes it so easy to spot Serena and grimaces when her eyes fall instead on Jenny.

She assesses Jenny for a moment, who is relaxing against the table with Nate's arm around her. Blair shakes her head, criticizing Jenny's attentiveness. Not only is Jenny not going the extra mile by observing the actions of possible pockets of resentment among the students, but she is even failing to keep track of the social going-ons around her that are necessary to keep up with her clique.

Blair knows from experience that Nate can be a fun, sexy distraction from everyday life. However, Blair perfected over the years balancing Nate and her social life. Blair suspects that Jenny has never had to manage anything more complicated than a four-person family event, while Blair has been planning society functions for years.

Blair is consoled when she inspects the popular clique. Most of it appears to be filled with girls that she met in Tribeca on Wednesday afternoon. This cheers and heartens her.

Her biggest consolation, however, comes from her observation of Hazel. She sees Hazel extricate herself from the clique surrounding her and call over to a boy from St. Jude's. Not only does the boy decline casually, but he subsequently turns to his friends to comment. Even though Blair cannot overhear them very clearly, she makes out the words "STD" and "dirty" before hearing obnoxious laughter coming from the table of boys.

Checking back with Hazel, Blair sees angry spots of red on her cheeks. Blair is very pleased.

Blair finally spots Serena sitting alone in the corner of the courtyard and heads over to sit with her.

"Hey S," Blair greets her friend with a hug. She looks around the empty table as she sits down. "Where's your boy toy?"

"His name is Dan, as you very well know, B," Serena groans. "And he's at some stupid writer's retreat. I guess it's for 'promising young poets' chosen by some….committee or something. Whatever."

Blair purses her lips sympathetically. "You miss him already, huh?"

Serena sighs. "I know, he'll be back Monday, I'm pathetic. I just…"

"Really like him?" Blair supplies.

"Love him, actually," Serena tells her.

Blair is unsurprised. "Have you told him?"

"Yeah," Serena smiles and bites her lip. "It's kind of scary to be in such a serious relationship, but…"

"He's worth it?" Blair again fills in Serena's words.

"God, yes," Serena agrees. "And are we on the same wavelength today or what?"

Blair rolls her eyes. "I've got romance on the brain after the release of that stupid recording." Not to mention, Blair's perpetually traitorous brain adds, after screwing Chuck in the bathroom at Balducci's.

"I realized I never asked you about that," Serena remarks. She finally turns to the food sitting untouched in front of her and begins to peel a banana. "How did Hazel catch you in that?"

Blair looks around before lowering her voice and leaning towards Serena. "You know how my mom and Bart Bass are working on that deal together?"

Serena thinks for a moment. "With the Rodriguezes?"

"Bart's mentioned it?" Serena nods as Blair continues. "Well, they wanted to bring me and Chuck along to watch the youngest Rodriguez, a nine-year-old boy named Tommy."

"God, I hate babysitting too," Serena empathizes as she chews her banana. "Although with a younger brother I did it a bit more than you."

Blair smiles ruefully. "Yeah, I'm not exactly that great at babysitting. Anyways, little Tommy ruined my dress and I go to the bathroom to change after the dinner. And who do I meet there, but…" Blair trails off.

Serena exhales in comprehension. "Chuck. Of course," she realizes. "I mean, I figured it was him-"

Blair raises her eyebrows.

"Okay, Kati and Iz might have hinted that way," Serena admits, "But any idiot can see you two are pining for each other."

Blair opens her mouth to protest but decides against it when Serena gives her a knowing look. Blair capitulates. "Is it really that obvious?"

Serena nods her head, laying down the empty banana peel on her tray. "Yup," she informs her friend. "Not to idiots like Hazel and Jenny, obviously, but I'm pretty sure Nate has figured it out," she jerks her thumb in the direction of his table.

"He has?" Blair asks in alarm.

Serena rolls her eyes. "I doubt he'll say anything," she reassures her friend. "What does he have to gain? Remember, he wants to protect Jenny."

"Speaking of Little J," Blair snickers. "Good thing Dan's gone."

"Why?" Serena queries.

Blair gestures towards Nate and Jenny's cuddle-fest on a bench a few tables over. "He'd probably try to give Nate a black eye."

Serena laughs. "True."

"Hey, have you seen Kati and Iz?" Blair asks her friend, suddenly worried for a second that they have been betrayed.

"Nah," Serena responds. "I got a text from Iz that she and Kati would be doing something during lunch today. I think they had to meet with somebody about the plans for Saturday."

Blair nods in understanding. "I forgot that I'd delegated that to them," she remembers. "The Social Committee meeting from Saturday seems like ages ago now."

"The past week has really felt like forever," Serena confirms. "I guess it's just because so much has happened.

"I guess," Blair shrugs.

The rest of the school day blurs past until the final bell rings. From there, Serena and Blair amble out of the building to the street. On their way, they can't help but pass by the steps where most of the school's population relaxes after school, especially on a sunny day like this.

Blair removes a pair of Jackie-O sunglasses from her purse and slides them on. Serena mirrors her actions and the girls are just heading out of the courtyard when Blair speaks up.

"Crap," Blair swears under her breath before continuing in a normal voice. "I forgot my lab notebook on the science classroom."

Serena frowns sympathetically, glancing back at the tall school building. "That's like on the fifth floor," she points out.

"I know," Blair sighs in exasperation. "Look, I'm going to run back and grab it. Do you mind waiting?"

"It's fine," Serena tells her friend. "It's a beautiful day; I don't mind being outside."

As Blair rushes off, Serena idles by the brick entryway. Unfortunately, she is accosted by Nate Archibald, whose girlfriend Jenny Humphrey is thankfully hanging out ten yards away with her friends.

"Hey, my mom wanted me to give these to you," Nate hands over a file folder to Serena. "They're for your mom, or something."

Serena looks surprised. "I appreciate it," she thanks her old friend.

"Whatever," Nate mumbles, careful to keep his eyes averted from Serena. He doesn't need Jenny getting jealous.

Too late for that. Jenny is already marching over.

"What are you doing with my boyfriend?" Jenny snaps at Serena.

Serena holds her hands up. "He just needed to give me something, okay?" She explains.

Serena can see that Jenny is getting worked up for a rant or a beat-down. Serena would put money against a beat-down; Jenny doesn't have the heart for it.

Thankfully Blair picks this moment to be a fast runner and reappears next to Serena, winded. "Hey, ready to go?" She asks Serena.

Serena nods gratefully. "Yeah," she tells her friend.

Blair steps out to the street, pulling her friend through the gate. She only has to start to lift her left hand when a taxi immediately screeches to a stop in front of her and she and Serena step in.

Nate turns around to face Jenny. "Hey, be nice, okay?"

"What do you mean?" Jenny asks, taken aback.

"Serena's an old friend," he admonishes gently. "Blair is too, for that matter." The look in Nate's eyes makes it clear that Jenny is to play nice with the two girls unless provoked.

"Fine," Jenny concedes grudgingly. "But I don't have to like them."

"That part I'm not worried about," A smile quirks the edges of Nate's mouth. "You already do."

Nate's phone beeps and he looks at it, checking the screen. "I have to go," he kisses Jenny chastely on the lips. "I'll see you later."

Chuck observes this entire dynamic from across the courtyard, watching the entire Serena and Blair and Jenny and Nate showdown. He notes how much it has changed from before. No longer is Blair on the defensive. She is certainly up to something, Chuck realizes. It should be fun.

Chuck is surprised when Nate looks over at him from where he is standing with Jenny.

Nate gives him a significant look before jogging off in the direction of Central Park, alone. Chuck contemplates what this might mean for a second before discreetly following Nate.

Once they have passed the first cotton-candy stand marking their entrance to the park, Nate turns to Chuck. "Are you still seeing Blair?"

Chuck nearly chokes on the cotton candy he just purchased. "What?!"

"I know you were with Hazel-" Nate's words are cut off by Chuck's snickers, and Nate allows himself a smile as well. "But nobody seems to know who Blair's with."

"It's a mystery, that," Chuck agrees, smirking.

"Is that a yes?" Nate asks his oldest friend.

Chuck doesn't respond.

"Goddamnit, Chuck, are you sleeping with my ex-girlfriend again?" Nate steadies himself on the brick wall encircling the park.

"Why are you accusing me, man?" Chuck tries a different defensive tack.

Nate laughs hollowly. "It's your voice in that recording. It's painfully obvious."

Chuck blanches even though he tries to hide it. "Who else knows?"

Nate looks carefully at Chuck. "Just me."

Chuck holds his breath. "Who else are you going to tell?" He asks nervously.

"Nobody, I guess," Nate says tightly. "If you want to fuck around with that skank, it's your business."

"She's not a skank," Chuck says automatically.

Nate looks skeptically at Chuck.

"She's only ever slept with us," Chuck informs him. "Besides, man, you can't be angry at me."

"I can't, can I?" Nate responds with just a touch of anger.

Chuck stares straight at his ex-best friend. "She was crazy about you, Nathaniel, and you were so willing to throw that away. Was it any surprise that she went to me?"

Nate exhales and sighs. "Not really." He pauses. "I guess I kind of always knew it, too."

"Really?" Chuck raises his eyebrows.

Nate shrugs. "She always spent way more time with you than with me."

"So you don't mind me dating Blair?" Chuck questions Nate.

Nate considers briefly. "If you can keep her, you can have her."

"What do you mean?"

Nate tosses a knowing look at Chuck. "Can you honestly say you're with her right now?" When Chuck says nothing, Nate's suspicions are confirmed. "Trust me, she's a handful."

"She's worth it," Chuck tells him.

"I'm glad," Nate shoots back. "She better be."

After his conversation with Nate, his ex-best-friend-turned-friend-again, Chuck returns to his suite at The Palace to think about everything. It only takes two hours of crappy MTV television programming and a sumptuous dinner of chicken curry at the Oak Room to convince Chuck that he is in the wrong place.

Chuck takes the limo to Blair's apartment that night and convinces the doorman to let him in. He gets off the elevator at the appropriate floor and knocks on the apartment door.

The door opens just a crack. Kati's face pokes out.

"What do you want?" She asks politely.

Chuck smiles at Kati. "I'd like to see Blair."

"Blair isn't accepting visitors," she informs him.

"She's accepting you," he points out.

Kati tosses her hair. "Let me put it this way, Chuck: you're not on the approved list of visitors."

Chuck gives Kati his sexiest smirk. "But I have to see Blair."

Kati contemplates the situation for a second and clearly makes a quick executive decision. She opens the door all the way. "Come on in," she greets him like a proper hostess, sweeping her arm dramatically.

Chuck enters the apartment and sees three cups of tea on the table. Serena and Iz are gathered around the table and Kati goes to rejoin them.

"Blair's thataway," Iz reminds him, pointing down the hallway. As if Chuck hadn't been here a million times before.

Chuck makes his way to Blair's room. He enters, not even bothering to knock. He finds Blair tucked in the bed trying her hardest to sleep.

"Hey, Blair," he greets her softly.

Blair rolls over so that she can see who it is. She glares. "Why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Chuck smirks.

Blair shakes her head tiredly. "Not tonight, Chuck, I'm just not in the mood."

Chuck laughs. "Not for that, Blair. Just to be with you," he clarifies.

Blair looks skeptical.

"Look, can we at least talk?" Chuck pleads.

Blair scoots over in the bed, patting the space next to her. "There's room in here for two," she informs him, ignoring his question and subsequent lascivious smile.

Chuck immediately slips under the covers with her, doing his best to remain stoic despite the lush, soft curves less than an inch away from his body.

"We'll talk in the morning, okay?" Blair murmurs before shutting the light off and cuddling to Chuck. She will never admit it, but after seeing Chuck shirtless for the first time all she wanted to do was just rest against his strong chest.

Even though they are both mostly clothed, the spooning feels even more intimate than the lovemaking they have practiced so many times. Their hearts fill with contentment as they drift off to sleep.

Outside of Blair's bedroom, Serena and Kati and Iz clear their dishes and head out. Their role for the night is over.

Author's Note: Man, that was a lot of dialogue. I hope you enjoyed it! Btw, I didn't expect this to take quite so long, but I really needed a break after busting out the last few chapters so fast. Don't worry, you'll have the tenth and final chapter by Monday (and the epilogue should probably be up by then, too). Thank you to my great beta, maz4pj! And thank you all SO much for your reviews! They inspire me and make me happy. It would be great if you could keep up all that great feedback…hint hint ˆˆ


	9. Day 9: Saturday

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Duh.

Chapter 9

Day 9: Saturday

Blair stirs slightly, starting to wake up after a long night of peaceful slumber. Her eyelids flutter open as she tries to remember where she is.

She can tell she's still in her own bed, because her head is resting sideways against the expensive down pillows she imported specially from ??. But the hand flung across her chest would suggest that another person was sharing her imported pillows.

Blair jerks up in surprise, waking the person next to her as well with an accidental elbow jab.

"Dammit," Chuck Bass swears as he feels a sharp pain to his abdomen, jolting him awake.

Blair turns to him, shocked. "Chuck? What are you doing here?"

Chuck looks confused. "You asked me to stay here."

The previous night comes flooding back. Blair's face softens. "You stayed?"

Chuck smiles gently. "You asked me to stay here," he repeats.

Blair grins a little, happy. The pair lies spooning together for a few minutes, content. Blair snuggles into Chuck's chest as he wraps his arms around her.

The moment is broken by the buzz of Blair's phone on her nightstand. Chuck groans as Blair rolls over to grab it.

"Can't this wait?" Chuck complains before Blair shoots him A Look.

Chuck quiets as Blair checks the Caller ID and answers the call. "Hello?"

She listens and pauses. "Uh-huh." Another pause. "Uh-huh." Yet another pause. "Uh-huh."

Chuck sighs and stretches out on the bed, flopping spread-eagle on his back.

"We need it by 5:45, I think," Blair tells the person on the other end of the line.

Pause.

"No, not Monday."

Pause.

Pause.

"Look, haven't you ever seen Pirates of the Caribbean? It's all about taking the opportune moment."

Pause.

"A time when the entire school is gathered together, but the administrators aren't there? Of course it's opportune, Iz."

Pause.

Pause.

Pause.

"Uh-huh."

Pause.

Pause.

"So, 5:45 it is, then?"

Pause.

"Great, I'll see you at Café Angelique's later."

Blair ends the phone call. Chuck is glaring at her out of exasperation.

Blair pouts at him and he relents. He covers her pouting lips with his, the temptation being too much to resist.

Blair relaxes into the kiss, enjoying the feel of his mouth moving over hers. Even though they've played this game before, just making out with him still makes her tingle all over.

When Chuck's hands begin to wander under Blair's shirt, she pulls away.

"What's wrong?" He asks with concern.

"Nothing," Blair shakes her head. "It's just…"

Chuck groans. "What?"

"Don't get mad," Blair says defensively.

Chuck holds his hands up. "I'm not mad, I'm not mad. Just tell me what's wrong, and we'll fix it. Okay?"

"Okay," Blair takes a deep breath. "Why did you change your mind about wanting me?"

Chuck is taken aback. He hadn't thought that Blair still remembered what happened over a week ago, but he supposes that her insecurities must have been eating away at her. He hates himself for doing that to her.

"I lied," Chuck admits, the truth flowing easily from his mouth. "I was hurt and angry and embarrassed after you went back to Nate," he explains carefully. "I said things I didn't mean."

"What do you mean?" Blair asks nervously.

"I definitely never stopped wanting you," Chuck tells her.

"So you said all of that horrible stuff…just to hurt me?" Blair realizes.

Chuck looks down, ashamed. "I wish I hadn't, Blair," he says sincerely. "But it just hurt so much when you went back to Nate."

He is surprised when Blair moves to hug him. "I would have done the same thing," she murmurs into his shoulder.

Chuck smirks against the top of her head, which is tucked under his chin. "That's my girl."

Blair pulls back again, arms still wrapped around him. "Wait, so are we dating now?"

"If you want to," Chuck responds nervously.

"I know I want to," Blair pauses. "But I guess we both need to think about a lot of things."

"Yeah," Chuck agrees. They hold each other for a minute. "Hey Blair?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"…Yeah."

"If Nate hadn't dumped you, would you still be with him now?"

Blair considers this. She knows that as insecure as she is about Chuck dismissing her, Chuck is equally insecure about how Blair dismissed him weeks before that. "Probably," Blair decides at last. "But I wouldn't be happy."

Chuck knows she is being honest about the first part. It is the latter that confuses him. "What do you mean, you wouldn't be happy?"

Blair shrugs. "Nate was like my security blanket, you know?" She smirks. "A very pretty security blanket."

"Nathaniel is very pretty," Chuck agrees with a chuckle.

"Seriously, though," Blair continues. "Kissing Nate was nothing like kissing you."

"Is that good?" Chuck questions with a grin.

Blair laughs, which makes Chuck briefly nervous before he sees the look she is giving him. "Kissing Nate was like kissing a very pretty security blanket," she explains. "Pretty, but boring and passionless. Kissing you is like…"

"You're at a loss for words to describe how amazing it is?" Chuck suggests.

"Exactly," Blair smiles before leaning forward to kiss him just as senseless as he has made her.

Blair doesn't regain her senses until she finally makes Chuck leave her house at noon. "I don't need my mom to wonder why you're here for lunch," she informs him before escorting him out.

Blair spends the rest of the afternoon preparing for her return to power. It is crucial that today goes exactly as planned. The Social Committee meeting needed to reestablish Blair's control over the Constance girls, and the school-wide assembly needed to properly vilify Hazel.

Blair knows that the events of today could easily turn negative for herself, and thus knows she must be careful to avoid any confrontation. She must cause Hazel's downfall before she can take power, otherwise Hazel might turn the tables on her.

Blair searches desperately through her closet for the perfect outfit. She is sure that today will be the day she returns to power, and she wants to look damn good while doing it. After all, even if the events don't turn out exactly as Blair plans, she wants to look well put together for the camera-phone snapshot that she is sure one of Gossip Girl's cronies will make sure to take.

Since it will be gracing the cover of a blog, Blair decides, it shouldn't be an outfit with too much detail. It should look crisp and tailored but not too boring.

Blair removes a black tweed skirt and blazer from her wardrobe. She then plucks out a sparkly camisole with just a hint of cleavage. Blair holds the outfit to her body, double-checking it in the mirror. The skirt is just short enough to be sexy, but not short enough to be slutty. She grabs a pair of diamond earrings off of her jewelry stand. Perfect.

This time, Blair does not arrive at Café Angelique early. She wants to let the earlybirds get there with plenty of time to gossip and stew over the pictures of Hazel and rumors of Blair's comeback plans.

Instead, Blair arrives promptly to the meeting. By the time she takes her place at the front of the room, the clock has just ticked to 4pm and all of the girls in the Social Committee are arrayed in front of her.

Except…Blair frowns. There are three empty spaces at the table. She glances at Iz, who mouths "Hazel."

Blair raises her eyebrows. The girls in the room, who are all observing the exchange eagerly out of the corner of their eyes, wait anxiously for Blair to blow up in anger.

But Blair does nothing of the sort. She does not even need to clear her throat or cough to command the silent attention of the girls in front of her, she only needs to raise her head slightly and every pair of eyes in the room is focused on her.

"We begin," Blair announces imperiously, "with a quick review of the progress so far and then-"

She breaks off as Hazel enters, flanked by Jenny and Nicky. Hazel's eyes are bloodshot and her clothes look haphazardly picked out. Jenny merely looks haggard, but Nicky looks fresh and happy. As they take the empty seats, Nicky grins a little at Blair.

So Iz really did spread the word.

"Now that everyone is here," Blair continues, shooting a nasty look at Hazel. "Let us begin. We have secured a location and a band for live music. However, payment is still at issue, since the school has withheld our budget pending the passage of new decorum rules that the student body will vote on in a few hours."

Blair glances around the room, satisfied that everybody is listening, and smiles. "Now, I am going to let you all split up into your committees to work on the planning, but first I just want to give you all a framework for how things will be working from here on out. We won't meet again as a group for another couple weeks. Instead, I expect the committees to meet individually and I'll just have weekly meetings with the committee heads to touch base. Does that sound okay?"

The girls all nod, even Hazel.

Blair steps down and observes the room as the girls quickly reorganize. Jenny sits reluctantly with the decorations committee while Hazel heads to the location committee under the stern eye of Priscilla Vanderbilt. Kati holds court over at the food committee, gently explaining things to Elise Wells, while Iz talks to the entertainment committee about alternate options and payment plans.

Blair wanders from group to group, making sure everybody is fully on task. She sits with the food committee for a while as they go through the caterer's menu picking items to be served.

Suddenly Blair spots Hazel get up from her group and head to the ladies' room. Blair knows that she can't herself follow because it would be too noticeable, but is also aware that it is crucial to have somebody checking things out.

Thankfully, Iz is thinking along the same lines because not a moment later she excuses herself from her committee and heads in the same direction Hazel just did.

Blair turns her attention back to the food committee, satisfied. If there is any dirt left to be captured on Hazel, Iz will find it.

The rest of the meeting proceeds calmly, with no verbal altercations of any sort. Sure, Hazel (who is clearly as grumpy and tired as she looks) snaps at Priscilla a few times, but Blair isn't worried. Priscilla Vanderbilt can take care of herself.

At the end of the meeting, Blair picks a few girls out of the committee, all mindless social-climbing lackeys, and appoints them to help her run the next assembly.

"So I'll see you all in a half hour at school?" Blair reminds Social Committee girls sweetly. She knows that now every girl will have to make an appearance of wealth by paying for a taxi, even though a subway would be cheaper and faster (no Manhattan gridlock). The few girls who can't afford the extra luxury will leave the group on the pretense of "going for a coffee" before slipping into the subway station. Ah, the Upper East Side.

Blair herself has no time to waste, so she and Serena snag the first cab on the street and head for Constance Billiards. She has to set up the voting booths.

Thirty minutes later, the entirety of the Constance Billiards and St. Jude's student populations are gathered in the main assembly hall and Blair's heart starts to flutter. Sure, she's run the social thing a million times, but never before has so much been riding on her performance. There will be no second chances.

Blair steps up to the mic once everyone is seated and taps it lightly. "You all know what this is about. The administration is concerned about drinking and inappropriate dancing at school functions, as they reflect badly on the school. However, certain safeguards put in by the Student Council years ago make it impossible for the administration to make the standard disciplinary measures more harsh without student approval. So today, we will be voting on whether or not to make suspension standard for any person caught under the influence at a school function."

Blair hears a slight murmur of discontent and speaks loudly so she is heard. "You may vote either way of course, but just be aware that unless these new disciplinary rules are approved, the administration has vowed to withhold funding from all school events."

The audience grumbles but knows they must acquiesce. The volunteers Blair picked out earlier begin to herd people towards the booths. Blair sees Chuck in the crowd and he winks at her. A silly grin forms on her face.

Iz catches this exchange and turns to Kati. She whispers in her ear and Kati smirks knowingly. They both turn to look at Blair who is now blushing, embarrassed.

Blair looks at Kati and Iz as sternly as she can manage, trying to make them be quiet. Thankfully, the entire student body is preoccupied with voting and they aren't paying attention to Blair anymore.

Blair watches Iz take out her phone and type furiously for a second before putting her phone away. Not ninety seconds later, the phone of every girl in the room buzzes simultaneously.

Now, every girl takes out her phone to check the incoming message. It only takes another fifteen seconds of frantic skimming before all female eyes turn towards Hazel.

Hazel is currently hanging off of an underclassmen from St. Jude's. She clearly cannot even hold herself up and her eyes are so bloodshot they appear bright red.

Blair, having now checked her phone message as well, now knows why Hazel's eyes are so red. Clearly, illegal drugs just don't agree with Hazel's complexion.

The males in the room, confused as they are not on Gossip Girl's automatic alert list, also turn towards Hazel. Jenny and Nicky and the rest of the popular clique all back away from Hazel and retreat a few rows away.

Hazel has just finished checking her own phone. The color has drained out of her face. "Oh my god…"

The St. Jude's boy, having read the message over Hazel's shoulder, pushes her off of him roughly. Teenagers on the Upper East Side are no strangers to illegal substances, but they are only acceptable in society if they are done behind closed doors.

Hazel looks at him in confusion. Has she really just been…betrayed? She shrinks into herself as the entire crowd begins to move away from her, isolating her, leaving her alone in the center of the room.

The entire room begins to buzz with murmured conversation and gossip. Who posted it? When was it taken? How did they know? Why did Hazel do it?

And most importantly, if Hazel was gone, who would rule next?

The last question is answered when Blair returns to the mic. "Ladies and gentlemen, do not e distracted by tawdry gossip. Please continue voting in an orderly and quiet manner."

The room hushes, but only because the people are content. Their final question has been answered. It will be Blair Waldorf who rules them next, because it was always Blair Waldorf in the first place. Who's to say she didn't engineer the entire Hazel debacle from Day 1, just for her own amusement?

They wouldn't put it past Blair Waldorf.

AN: I know, I promised to have the entire fic up by tonight. Sigh. Still, don't worry, the rest of the fic will be posted this week. I'm still very proud of myself for writing so much of this story so fast  By the way, thank you to my awesome beta maz4pj.


	10. Day 10: Sunday

Return of the Waldorf

Chapter 10

Day 10: Sunday

It is Sunday morning and Blair Waldorf is sleeping peacefully on her Queen-sized bed. Her chest rises and falls, her breath even, and the faint smile on her face suggests that for once Queen B is actually relaxed and carefree.

Which is ridiculous, of course. There is no time when Queen B is not scheming and plotting.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Blair gropes blindly on her nightstand, finally snatching her phone. She brings it to her ear and listens, her eyes still shut to the sun coming through the blinds.

"Hello?" Blair asks blearily.

"Good morning, Queen B," Iz greets her cheerily. "I got some news for ya."

Blair yawns. "Uh-huh."

"Hazel's parents withdrew her from school."

Blair's eyes snap open as she sits up in bed, shocked. "Already?"

"They called Ms. Tedrow last night," Iz confirms. "They were practically begging the headmistress to make the withdrawal effective by Monday."

"Good," Blair smiles in satisfaction.

Iz also grins from the other end of the phone line. "Gossip Girl doesn't even have this news yet," Iz informs Blair. "I figured I ought to let you now first before I text it in."

"Well, I appreciate it," Blair thanks her friend. She doesn't bother to ask how Iz found out. The magic is in the mystery, after all.

"Good to know," Iz says jokingly. "Look, I've got to go. Things to do, people to-"

"People to out, I know," Blair interrupts with a laugh. "Go gossip. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"On the steps of the Met," Iz answers, referring to the usual lunch spot of the Queens of Mean.

Blair hears a click in the speaker and knows that Iz has hung up, off to do the dirty work of the gossip princesses of the Upper East Side.

It was strange how one could just tap a few buttons on one's phone to ruin somebody's life.

'Tis the world of Gossip Girl.

Blair smiles at the thought of how she has exploited Gossip Girl to her advantage. Gossip Girl may have brought her down originally, but she rose back up by making new headlines. It is just the balance of life: Gossip Girl giveth, Gossip Girl taketh away.

Her Mean-Girls-inspired plans worked surprisingly well.

Jenny and Hazel's insecurities ran rampant thanks to Blair's choice comments about their wardrobe, easily nullifying their rockin' bodies.

Blair effectively made Hazel and Jenny romantic lepers, taking away any chance of a hot boyfriend. No guy wanted to date them, especially after "The Life and Times of a Skank-in-Training" went live. Blair grins, remembering that. That was a particularly inspired move by Iz.

And of course, their Army of Skanks was easily the most important piece on the entire chessboard. After all, without the defections of Kati, Iz, and practically the entire newly minted Queens of Mean, how could Blair have possibly staged such a comeback?

Blair smirks in satisfaction. This little episode will certainly go down in Gossip Girl history.

Suddenly, Blair's phone buzzes in her hand and jerks Blair out of her musings. Blair glances down at the Caller ID. It is Serena.

Blair answers the call. "Hey, S, what's going on?"

Blair hears a sigh over a lot of background noise. She decides not to mention any of it. "Is it horrible of me to be mean to Jenny Humphrey?"

"What?" Blair asks, shocked. "Of course not."

Serena sighs again. "I know, it's just…I mean, she is Dan's sister."

Blair shrugs, grabbing a bottle of red O.P.I. toenail polish from her desk. She scrunches her comforters to the other side of the bed and begins to give herself a pedicure. "So? She deserves it. Besides, not even Dan likes her right now."

"But this now is different, Blair. She isn't exactly popular anymore; she's lost everything."

"And your point is…?"

"I dunno, I guess it's sort of like kicking someone when they're down."

Blair carefully paints her pinky toe. "S, no offense, but what brought this sudden surge of sympathy for Jenny on?"

Serena sighs for the third time. "Well, I went shopping today and I ran into Jenny. And I guess I gave her a weird look or something-she seemed really paranoid or something-"

Blair snorts at this. Of course Jenny is paranoid. Gossip Girl's cronies are everywhere, dying for a shot of Jenny Humphrey crumbling under the pressure.

"Because then she greeted me very snottily and I just didn't want to put up with it, you know?"

"Um, yeah. That's how I feel whenever I'm around her."

"Blair!" Serena groans. Blair hears a bunch of clanking noises in the background on Serena's end. "You have to understand how horrible I feel. I really went off on her! I was listing like every fault and transgression."

"Did you mention how her eyeliner makes her look like a raccoon?" Blair asks curiously.

"I didn't mean to!"

Blair cheers inside.

"And then Nate came up afterwards and told me what a backstabbing bitch I was and he just made me feel so guilty-"

Suddenly, there is a loud crash coming through the tiny speaker on Blair's phone. She looks at it, concerned. "Serena? What happened?"

It is a few moments before Serena responds, a little breathless. "Nothing, nothing," she chirps. "One of the moving guys just collided with the doorway, and as it turned out he was carrying some crystal vases and my mom is freaking. But all is totally copacetic."

"Serena, what in the world is going on wherever you are?" Blair asks, very confused.

Serena, still panting, responds. "Oh, we're moving in with the Basses today, so everything is a little hectic."

Blair raises her eyebrows even though she knows that Serena cannot see her. "I'll say."

Both girls giggle but Serena quickly returns to a state of seriousness.

"For real, Blair, I need your advice on this," Serena pleads. "I mean, how do I treat Jenny? Or even Nate, for that matter?"

Blair rolls her eyes. It is all so simple, but Serena always insisted on being nice to people she didn't have to, which changes the equation. "Well, be polite to Jenny, but never say more than you have to," she instructs. "Same with Nate."

"But we've been friends with Nate since we were five years old!"

"He's the one who betrayed us," Blair says, conveniently leaving out her sleeping with Chuck. "He chose Jenny over us. He's not worth it."

Serena's mouth quirks in indecision. "You think so?"

They are both quiet for a minute while Serena ponders. In the background Blair hears Chuck's muffled voice and she is ashamed to admit to herself that it makes her shiver in excitement.

"Hey, B, thanks for the advice," Serena says sincerely. "Look, Chuck wants the phone now so remind him to give my cell back when you two are done, okay?" Her words carry just a hint of innuendo in them that Blair chooses to ignore.

"Love you, S!" Blair shouts as Serena hands over the phone.

"Hey Blair." Chuck's voice is rough and tired from a day of supervising the clearly sub-par moving guys. They had broken two lamps and three china dishes and it was Chuck who had to break the news to Lily.

Blair's lips tingle in anticipation of the lovely things that Chuck usually did to them even though, logically, he couldn't do them right now, seeing as they weren't in the same room. "Hey, Bass," she greets him as casually as she can.

"How's it going?" Chuck asks, trying to ease into a conversation with Blair. He isn't sure where they stand, even though they spent the entirety of yesterday morning in bed together.

"Good," Blair responds nervously. "You?"

"Good," Chuck answers. He pauses. "So, do you want to hang out tonight?"

Blair bites her lip. "Chuck?"

"Yeah?" Chuck is suddenly scared that Blair will take everything back.

"Can we take this…slow?" She asks almost shyly, afraid of his response.

Chuck exhales. "Of course we can," he tells her. He should have realized that after being burned by Nate and him so many times that she would naturally be nervous about jumping back into a relationship.

"I mean, we are still in an exclusive relationship," Blair clarifies. "This isn't an opportunity for you to go off and get laid with some skank, Bass. I just…need a little bit of time before we go public and everything."

"I'll wait for you, Blair," Chuck reassures her. He thinks for a moment. "So, a date tonight is out, then?"

Blair nods and says, "Yeah. But maybe you could come over after school tomorrow and we could study or something?"

"Study?" Chuck smirks. "Sure."

If Blair had been standing next to Chuck, she would have whacked him. "Bass, please do not cast aspersions on my virtue," she informs him. "Hey, I gotta go, will I see you tomorrow?"

"I'll be in super-secret relationship mode," Chuck confirms with a chuckle.

Their voices soften as they make their good-byes. Even though there are no declarations of love as yet, the unspoken sentiments linger in the air long after the phone call ends and Chuck has returned Serena's Sidekick.

Later that night, Chuck is sitting at his desk doing his homework. As usual, he has left everything to the last minute and is thus racing through his Pre-Calculus problem set.

He is startled when his father walks through the door and perches on the end of his bed.

"Chuck, I just wanted to thank you," Bart tells his son. "Not only are you being a great sport about Lily and her children moving in, but you really helped me with the Rodriguez deal last Wednesday. We are in the final stages of processing that deal now." His eyes narrow. "I expect this good behavior to continue?"

Chuck cocks his head and smirks. "Of course, father," he smarms. "Lending a hand with the Rodriguezes was nothing."

Bart looks at him dubiously. "I noticed you lent more than just a hand to Ms. Waldorf after the dinner," he points out as Chuck's eyes widen involuntarily. "I went to find the maitre d' when you didn't come back after fifteen minutes and he informed me that you were ensconced in the family restroom with Ms. Waldorf."

Although Chuck is embarrassed at being caught by his father, it could certainly be worse. After all, his father understood these sorts of things. He settles for a neutral expression. "What of it?"

Bart appraises his son briefly. Chuck is doing his best to appear casual, but his tensed jaw muscles and arms crossed defensively suggest someone worried about his father's judgment.

"I just hope you don't screw it up," Bart pronounces finally. "Ms. Waldorf will be good for you and even though I'm sure she deserves someone far better-" Chuck wryly nods in agreement as Bart continues. "She has chosen you, and you should remember how lucky that makes you. You'd have to be an idiot to fuck this up," Bart explains in his polished high society voice.

Father and son exchange knowing glances before Bart rises and leaves. Chuck sits there for a minute, thinking, his pencil tapping absentmindedly on his math paper.

Is Blair Waldorf really worth all of this trouble? He grins. Damn straight.

--Fin--

Author's Note: Wow, we are hitting the end you guys! This is the final chapter of the story and the only thing left will be the epilogue. Thanks to my beta, maz4pj, and thank you to everybody who has reviewed so far. You guys totally inspired me to keep going through this marathon-writing event and I really appreciate it! :)

Now, is it so much to ask for just one more review? (err…two since I'll be begging you next chapter as well. Shhh!) begs


	11. Epilogue: The Last Day

Return of the Waldorf

Epilogue

Day 11: Monday

Blair's alarm goes off and for the first time in twelve days, she does not wish she could just go back to sleep and ignore the real world. Sure, Sunday was better than it used to be, but today is perfect. She is going back to a school firmly under her control and a student body very much in awe of her ten-day destruction of Hazel.

She rises lazily from her bed and dresses herself in the plain school uniform skirt and a soft pink cashmere sweater that hugs her curves. She is careful to spend extra time on her hair and makeup that morning, determined to project the ideal image of a social queen.

She succeeds.

As Blair walks into the courtyard that morning, the students hush and all eyes turn towards her.

Her mouth curves upward faintly as Kati and Iz rush up to her to greet her, flanking her on both sides as they stride towards the main building. Serena joins them as they head up the main steps.

Blair scans the crowd out of the corner of her eye and notices Chuck staring along with all of his friends. They share a fleeting glance that thankfully the crowd doesn't notice and Blair's eyes quickly move along to assess the rest of her admirers.

Lunch that day is particularly pleasant, as Blair basks in the multitude of attentive girls and boys hanging onto her every word. She finally excuses herself and the rest of the popular clique to their own table and they are free to chat more confidentially. Of course, the first order of business is fashion.

"I love your sweater, Blair," Kati compliments the new queen, as she is once again required to do.

Blair smiles regally. "Thank you, Kati."

Iz gasps. "Is it part of the new Chanel spring collection?"

"It's not part of their fall collection," Blair points out. "Of course it is new."

The rest of the Queens of Mean whisper among themselves. The Chanel collection hadn't even previewed at fashion week yet!

Iz and Kati smirk at each other, happy with their progress at returning Blair to her exalted status among the girls of Constance Billiards. Without Blair, they were nothing more than the lowest-level lackeys in the clique. With Blair, they were third to only Serena and Blair herself.

Suddenly, the girls notice that Chuck Bass is heading their way. He approaches Serena with his usual cocky grin.

"Hey, sis," he greets her. "How are you?"

Serena sighs. "Fine. What do you need, Chuck?"

Chuck smirks a little. "Relax, sis, no reason to be uptight. I just wanted to tell you that Lily called me and left a message saying that we should expect to be at the suite directly after school. The caterer is providing a sampler."

His eyes travel to Blair, relaying his hidden reason for coming over to talk to Serena. Their plans for hanging out would have to be cancelled, at least for now.

"How long will it go?" Serena groans. "Kati, Iz, Blair and I have plans for dinner."

Blair and Chuck's eyes meet briefly. The rest of the clique pretends not to notice.

"We'll be done by then," Chuck assures her. "So will you be there?"

Serena rolls her eyes. "It's not like I have any other options." She turns to her best friend. "B, you should probably push back the reservations at Butter. I won't be that hungry after the tasting."

Blair takes out her Sidekick and pushes a few buttons. "Done. Kati, Iz, we'll meet at Butter at 8:30?"

They nod.

Blair pressed a few more buttons on her phone before lifting it to her ear, effectively ignoring everybody else around her. "Hello?"

Chuck saunters off as the conversation continues. "Yes, this is Blair Waldorf. I'm calling to change my reservation for tonight…"

The entire clique doesn't reassemble until after school when they gather in the courtyard. They chatter and gossip for a few minutes, undisturbed by the rest of the students.

Just before Serena is about to make her excuses to leave, Jenny Humphrey walks up with Nate Archibald watching from a few paces back.

Everyone is looking to Blair Waldorf for direction. Blair does nothing, waiting for Jenny to begin the conversation.

Finally Jenny is practically toe-to-toe with Blair. She speaks: "How are you, Blair?"

"Since we last talked? Gee, when was that…" Blair pretends to ponder. "Oh yes, I think I did see you on Saturday." She pauses, grinning slightly. "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"

Jenny is stung, but she doesn't back down. "Wonderful, actually."

When Jenny doesn't say anything else, Blair decides that this is enough. "Well, if that's everything, you can leave now," she announces with a wave of her hand.

Jenny raises her eyebrows. "Actually, that wasn't it."

Blair gives her a look. "Well then finish it."

"I just wanted to pass on a message," Jenny says gleefully, hopeful that this will be her chance to get back at Blair. "You remember William Hanover, don't you? From last Tuesday?"

Blair nods her head almost imperceptibly with a bored look on it.

"I ran into him the other day and he just wanted me to tell you how much fun he had that night with you and how much he wanted to do it again sometime," Jenny looks at Blair pointedly, emphasizing the words "do it again."

Blair does not look put-off at all. She only grins slyly. "You mean, last Tuesday when I chatted with William for a few minutes as you threw yourself at Nate, slobbering all over him?"

In the background, Nate stiffens.

"Yes, that was fun," Blair continues. She purses her lips. "Watching you be a desperate whore is always a good time-"

Nate angrily steps forward to defend his girlfriend. "Watch it, Blair."

"Watch what, Nate?" Blair asks innocently, her clique tittering behind her.

Nate fixes her with a knowing stare. "Don't take out your anger at me on Jenny."

Blair barks a short laugh. "Is that it? You think I'm jealous?"

"That's exactly what I think, Blair," Nate shoots back.

Blair rolls her eyes condescendingly. "Oh, Nate, do you really know me at all?" She casts a disgusted look at Jenny. "How could I ever possibly be jealous of a backstabbing bitch with last season's clothes, raccoon-style eyeliner, and quite frankly hideous features?"

Nate puts a protective arm around Jenny. "None of that is true, Blair."

"You think so?" Blair raises her eyebrows. "Well, since this is clearly _Who Wants to Be a Millionaire_,"she says, looking straight at Jenny, "Let us ask the audience." She sweeps her arm grandly towards the people surrounding them. "What do they think?"

Nate looks out at the unforgiving crowd of Upper East Side teens. They glare at him and Jenny.

"Give it up, Blair," He says in a low voice. "You've won. You know it. Why can't you leave us alone?"

Blair doesn't bother to hide her disdain. "I would have been happy to never see either of your faces again. You two were the ones who approached me." She sighs dramatically. "Let it go, Nate."

Nate's face tightens but he says nothing, only guiding Jenny out of the courtyard without even a glance backwards at his ex-girlfriend.

Blair turns back towards her friends. "That was weird," Blair comments idly, brushing the entire encounter off. "So, what were you saying about Betsey Johnson, Kati?"

Blair doesn't have to see Jenny and Nate again for the rest of the day, Thank God. In fact, the next time she sees anyone from school is when she meets up with Kati, Iz, and Serena at Butter at 8:30 that night.

They are seated around a table in the middle of the room, all laughing and chatting as they sip at their champagne glasses, waiting for their appetizers to arrive. No restaurant in town would dare card a Waldorf.

"God, I'm so glad to have Dan back," Serena gushes. "He is just so supportive. I miss him so much while he's gone!"

"Only you would have such a total geek of a boyfriend," Kati laughs. "Really, a writer's retreat?"

Serena sighs. "Hey, if it makes him happy…"

"Speaking of St. Jude's boys," Blair changes the subject. "Did you guys hear about that one sophomore running a pool on me?"

Iz and Kati blush guiltily, but Serena is confused. "What pool?"

"Oh, I guess he was running a bet on how long it would take me to knock Hazel off her throne," Blair explains casually.

"Really?" Serena asks, interested. "How long did most people bet?"

Blair shrugs. "Some people bet a couple of days, others bet a couple of months," she informs Serena. "Our friends mostly bet that it would take twelve days," she says, looking directly at Kati and Iz.

Kati holds her hands up. "Hey, we had faith in you!"

"And that's why you wanted to wait on Saturday," Blair says knowingly. "You wanted it to be today instead."

Iz smirks. "We make no excuses."

Serena looks at her best friend. "What did you do when you found out, B?"

Blair grins. "I decided to make sure I won. I picked the day that nobody else had bet on, ten days, and gambled."

"Was it really ten days?" Serena asks.

"Counting Wednesday as my last day in power, yes," Blair says. "The first day would be Thursday, and Saturday-when Hazel was ruined-would be the tenth day."

Serena nods appreciatively. "So, how much did you win?"

Blair laughs. "Oh, I'll never tell." She looks around at her friends. "Let's just say dinner is my treat tonight."

"As if you needed the money," Kati points out and the girls all laugh.

The waiter comes by to refill their champagne glasses and Kati stands up for a moment, holding her glass up.

"I would just like to make a toast…" Kati begins and the girls giggle. "Seriously! I just want to celebrate Blair returning to be our queen," she announces. "Ready?"

The girls lift their glasses. "To the return of Blair Waldorf," Kati intones with a grin, and Blair smiles. She'll drink to that.

_Happy Monday, Upper East Side_

_B is officially back!_

_Sure, we knew that H was out on Saturday, but today truly marks B's return to the position of top dog. She even crushed the last of the pro-Hazel resistance, Little J, in a spectacular verbal battle after school._

_Any more updates on Little J or H, you might ask?_

_Well, as we exclusively told you yesterday, H withdrew from Constance Billiards Saturday night and is currently of unknown whereabouts. However, it's been rumored that she has enrolled in public school. No, we can't suppress our shudders either._

_Little J has been keeping a low profile since school ended today after being lambasted by B. N and Little J are apparently in it for the long haul together, since nobody else wants them now._

_So it would seem all is right with the universe. B is back on top and Little J is firmly at the bottom. But there are still questions to be answered, the most important being:_

_Who is B's mystery man from the recording?_

_Readers have been strangely reluctant to give us dirt on B lately. Come on guys, just because she's queen again doesn't mean she's perfect! Send the rumors our way…_

_You know you love me,_

_XOXO,_

_Gossip Girl._

--Fin. For real this time--

Author's Note: This is really the end, you guys. ducks I'm sorry that there wasn't a more satisfying B/C ending, okay? Stop throwing tomatoes!

Lol. Seriously though, the B/C ending just wasn't going to fit within this day-to-day timeframe that I wanted. I am considering a companion one-shot that will be focused solely on Blair and Chuck (okay, I'm more than considering it. I've written an outline. But I have other stories to work on too!), but I don't know when that will be up.

Thank you all so much for sticking with me through all of this. I know that updates haven't been as quick as promised, but you guys and your reviews have kept me writing and posting and finishing (!) this story. Thanks SO MUCH to my beta maz4pj from livejournal who made this fic approximately six-hundred-and-fifty-million times better.

I really can't thank you guys enough-every review you send me makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and cuddly and happy and ecstatic inside! Thanks to your reviews, for the first time EVER I finished a multi-chapter story. You (points and you, and you, and you…and especially the you that is planning on reviewing!) rock!

xoxoxoxoxo


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